Mutual Understanding
by Triforce Chica
Summary: slash, Zuko/Sokka ZUKKA. After joining the Avatar, insomnia is the least of Zuko's problems.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n:** this will be slash, so don't read if that's not your cup of tea. To the people who have been waiting like, half a year for me to update that Naruto fic — I'm really sorry. I don't think it will be updated any time soon, but it will be finished some day. For now, there's this.

Loosely based on the events after episode 3-12. I say loosely because I haven't watched it in a while and can only sort of remember what happened. Oh, yeah, and I completely forgot about Haru, Tao, and the Duke, so...they're gone. If you like you can pretend they're just being very, very quiet.

* * *

In the end, all of Sokka's logic and reason had been overruled by a (hundred and) twelve year old boy.

They had accepted the firebender into their group.

Sokka, too, was forced to relent, but if he had to give up his victory, then he was going to go down kicking and screaming. As was his usual way. Nobody ever said he had to be nice to the fancy hotpants.

But still, it was weird.

"Here's your, uh, room."

"Thank you?" The fire nation prince said, more as a question than anything. Sokka's hospitality apparently confused him. It confused Sokka, too. Wasn't he saying how he wouldn't be nice to the firebender just a few sentences ago? Things just happen than way. He couldn't be outright hostile, that wasn't his way. Besides, the guy was teaching Aang firebending, and that's...a good thing, right?

So, Sokka supposed, the problem was that this guy was a jerk and yet he was being helpful. It was a paradox. Then, he was confused because he didn't know how to act around the prince.

He decided, in the end, to being his usual self.

"I am so _sick _of eating fruit!" Sokka sighed and flopped down onto the blanket spread over the cold stone of the air temple, one hand curled around his waist. "It does nothing for me."

Katara _hmpfed_.

"You reap what you sow, Sokka. This is the best that any of us - including you - could find, so now we have to accept that and stop complaining."

The firebender looked up from the peach he was about to bite into and said, almost meekly (but not _meekly_, because there was no way that stuck up fancy royal firepants could be meek), "I can try to find something else."

Sokka looked at him from his awkward angle on the ground. What was this? Fancy hotpants was doing the...being helpful thing again? This was unbelievable.

"Don't bother." Katara snapped at him, with rage in her voice that made her response seem ill-suited to the prince's offer of help, "It's too late for that and besides, _some _people need to stop acting so spoiled." Katara had a lot of pent-up anger these days, mostly directed towards one person. Even after Sokka had given up really trying to antagonize the firebender (intentionally, at least), Katara had never really let it go. On a bad day _everyone _would feel her wrath.

But that person was already standing up and reaching for his sword.

"There's a lot of game that only come out late in the night. Batfrogs, for instance...I saw a huge nest of them on my way here."

"I said—"

He was already walking away.

"Hey, yeah, actually." Aang butted in with a thoughtful expression on his face, "I didn't go out a lot at night, back at the temple, but sometimes we'd sneak out and—"

"HEY! You're not listening to me! Oh, hold on one second Aang, I'll be right back." Katara rushed after the firebender. Sokka did not envy him right now.

"Oh boy," Aang sighed, showing a weariness beyond his (one hundred and) twelve years. He tapped Sokka on the shoulder and then stood up, "I'm gonna go after them. I'm afraid Zuko is going to get hurt."

"You do that." Sokka said rather unenthusiastically. Too lazy to get up, he craned his head so that he could see Aang following after the others. Haha, everyone was upside-down.

Well.

Now it was just him and—

"Heeeey Toph. What's going on?"

A rock came hurtling towards his head. He dodged it with an unmanly squeak.

"What was that for?!"

"If my complete and utter SILENCE for the last half an hour or so didn't tip you off, maybe the fact that I'm sitting away from the campfire, in a sleeping bag would have given it away? You think?"

"Oh. Sleeping, right? Gotcha. Sounds good to me. I'm probably gonna catch a few Z's myself in a moment or two, depending on if anyone comes back with more food—eek!"

This time, it was a rain of tiny pebbles, which was just as bad and ten times harder to avoid.

* * *

Katara returned with Aang by her side not a few minutes later.

No fire lord's son was anywhere to be seen. Sokka wondered if they'd find the body floating upstream tomorrow morning.

"He disappeared." Katara said in her best "do-_not_-mess-with-me-sokka" voice.

"Well, he _is _a ninja. Sometimes." Aang said helpfully. Katara gave him a pained smile.

"Anyway, he can't just do whatever he feels like." Sokka sat up, settling in. He could feel it. One of her tirades against the firenation was about to get underway. "Does he forget that he's only here because of your goodwill, Aang? You, god forbid, trusted him and allowed him to stay with us when he had nothing else! Nothing! And he could easily go back to nothing! And if he thinks I'll forgive him for all the crimes the firenation has committed in the past just because he brings back a little extra food—well, he can forget it!"

"I...don't think he's expecting that to happen," Aang said.

"Well anyway!" Katara announced, apparently having run out of things to say but not the need to say them, "Let's all just get some rest."

"What about Zu—"

"It's late. Let's sleep." Katara said, her voice taking on that firm, mothering quality. Well, whatever. Sokka was fine with any plan right now.

"But, he's going to come ba—" Aang was cut off again.

"SLEEP. Please?"

There was a stretch of silence and then—

"Are you all really done talking?" —from Toph's corner. There was no immediate response, and several more moments of quiet. "Thank GOD."

* * *

When Sokka woke up because of a prickling feeling on the back of his neck, he couldn't tell if minutes or hours had passed. The campfire had burned away to nothing more than a few pathetic cinders. Everybody else was fast asleep. Except—

The firebender wasn't anywhere to be seen. Curious, Sokka got up to check in the 'room' they had given the prince. But that too was empty.

"Huh," said Sokka aloud. And then an unusual yet familiar smell wafted through the air. Sokka sniffed. "That smells like..._meat_."

He followed the smell up to an alcove near the perimeter of the air temple. As he walked, he began to notice a glow on the walls he was coming up on, reflected back from firelight. Then he turned the corner and there was the prince, sitting in front of a campfire. He had a number of batfrogs skewered on sticks, sitting near the fire but not in it. The heat was probably causing them to cook very slowly. The firebender had one of the batfrogs in his hands and was eating it, absently. He looked up at Sokka's approach, unsurprised.

"Hello, Sokka," he said quietly, and Sokka was momentarily taken aback. He wasn't even sure the firenation prince knew his name, and now to hear it spoken without a hint of malice or anger–

"Uh, hi, Zuko," Sokka replied, and was finally forced to concede that yes, Mr. Firenation fancy hotpants prince did have an actual name. "Um, can I—?" He gestured to the ground.

"Go ahead," Zuko said, and handed him one of the batfrogs-on-a-stick.

"Thanks," Sokka said, and unashamedly dug into eating with all of his usual energy. Meat, glorious meat! His stomach was thankful. "Um, what are you—?" he asked, seemingly unable to form full sentences.

"It's for the others," Zuko replied in a halting tone.

"Oh."

"'Cause it's going to be dawn soon. They'll be ready when everyone else gets up."

"Don't you sleep?" Sokka asked him, incredulously.

"Not lately," Zuko said, unable to keep the trace of melancholy bitterness out of his voice. He curled up his knees to his chest and rested his chin there, eyes closing shut.

"...Oh," was all Sokka could think so say. "Well, you should try to. It's great."

"I can imagine."

"Nightmares?" he inquired.

"How did you know?" Zuko's eyes snapped open and he looked at Sokka, unbelieving.

"It's all over your face," Sokka said, "Besides, we all have them. Even Momo, I think. But it's hard to tell with him."

Zuko (to Sokka's extreme shock) smiled faintly and went back to resting his head on his knees. They sat in a strange, amicable silence, with the only noise coming from the crackling of the flames. Zuko was the first to break it.

"You're...different from how I expected you to be," he sounded pleased by this fact. Sokka smiled.

"Yeah, well. So are you."

Having eaten his fill (at least for the moment) Sokka leaned back and rested. The stone felt warm for some reason. Yaaawn. He'd just close his eyes for a bit.

Zuko smiled.

* * *

When Sokka woke again it was to the bright light of the late morning. People were talking above him — or next to him? Somewhere near him, anyway. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

"We should move him," that voice was Katara's.

"No, no, please don't. I need to see the look on his face when he wakes up like this," that was Toph, "Well, not _see _exactly, but you get the drift."

Apparently they hadn't noticed he was awake.

"C'mon guys, this isn't any way to start off a morning," that was Aang, ever the peace maker. What on earth were they talking about? "Oh, but I didn't mean that, Zuko. Thanks so much for the breakfast!"

"No problem," Zuko said, his voice oddly close. Okay, what was going on? Groggily, Sokka tried to sit up, supporting his weight on the warm, soft, stone floor. Or, the stone floor's leg at least.

Wait.

Back up just a tiny bit.

"Nyrgh hem herrag?" Sokka asked. He looked up.

"Good morning," Zuko replied.

"Uh, 'morning." Sokka said, vocal chords finally agreeing with him. A pause.

"Okay, you want to get off his lap now?" Katara said, hands on her hips.

"Lap?" Sokka looked down. He patted the surface he was resting on. Strange...stone floors weren't supposed to squirm, were they?

And then, Sokka really woke up.

"Yeeeeeeeeeah!" he jumped off Zuko's lap like a cat who'd had its tail stepped on.

"That was it! _That _was what I was waiting for!" Toph said, and her evil cackle echoed in the empty air temple.

Sokka stood, trying to catch his breath after being surprised. "Um..." he looked over at Zuko, who seemed strangely unperturbed. What happened to the bad-tempered firebender who'd been chasing them all this time?

"You fell asleep. I didn't want to wake you," he said, not meeting Sokka's eyes.

"Oh. Uh, thanks."

"If we're all done with that, can we _please _get on with our day?"

Everyone turned to look at Katara.

"Aang, you have some firebending to learn. Toph, you and I can go scout out the surrounding area—"

"You want to take the _blind _girl to help you scout?" Toph said in frustration.

"—Sokka, see what you can do about our defenses. Azula's still out there, searching for us."

Sokka groaned. And he thought _he _was a taskmaster. Zuko's level voice interrupted his thought.

"When Azula wants to find us, she will. And we won't be able to stop her."

"_What _did you say?"

"I know my sister. She's toying with us right now."

"You severely underestimate the power of this group if you think—"

"I'm just telling you what I know!" A streak of old stubbornness had worked its way into Zuko's voice, and Sokka was almost pleased to hear it.

Aang placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"How about that firebending training?" Sokka hated to say it, but the kid was getting kinda good at the whole keeping the peace thing. Except where it involved Katara, of course.

"Uh, sure. I found an ideal place to begin, last night. We can get started right now." Aang grinned as he pulled Zuko to his feet.

"Lead the way, Sifu Hotman."

"What did you call me?"

* * *

**CHAPTER 1 END**

* * *

Ta-dah! I couldn't wait to put this up. I've got some idea of where the next few chapters will go, but I'm still working out the overall plot. As usual, I've no idea what is going to happen. Oh well, you're all reading this for the slash anyway, right? Please review and let me know what your thoughts are.


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n**: Here's chapter two. Haru, Tao, and the Duke are still nowhere to be seen. Hope you like it. Please review afterwards, thank you!

* * *

Zuko and Aang had returned from the ruins late in the day, both boys in incredibly high spirits as they showed the rest of the group their...dance, for lack of a better word. Sokka had teased them mercilessly, as was his nature, but in all seriousness, it did look impressive.

Well, as far as he could tell. Not that he would know if it was impressive, his knowledge of bending and bending history limited to what he heard from others. But still. It _looked _impressive.

And since the day they'd first crossed paths in Sokka's own village, he'd never seen the firebender look happier. Not smug, or haughty, or righteous, but just...happy.

Sokka wasn't concerned about Zuko's feelings or anything like that. It was just in his nature to observe, and he was more perceptive than his sister and the others gave him credit for.

When they ate dinner that night (fueled by a fire that Aang proudly created himself), Zuko sat with them, instead of just near them, and even joined in the conversation a bit. Mostly his words were directed at Aang, who it seemed would never tire of telling and re-telling everything that had happened that day. Even Katara's mood was light as she laughed at the airbender's impression of Zuko stuck to the ceiling. But occasionally, she'd glance at Zuko, and her face would darken. Zuko was perceptive, too. He could easily see that there was at least one person sitting around the fire who didn't want him to be there.

Tonight, though, Zuko didn't seem to care what Katara or anyone else thought of him. The way his face lit up when he told them all how his uncle had protected the dragons (Toph paid close attention to him, this time), he seemed as if he didn't have a care in the world. Sokka liked him that way.

Only because, y'know, a happy Zuko is much less likely to burn the pants off of you when he's finally had enough harassment for the day.

* * *

"Somebody's in a good mood," Sokka said, by way of observation. Zuko was sitting in the alcove again, lacking a fire this time, except for the small flame that he flicked on and off on his palm. He looked up and smiled. Fire on

"Yeah, well, it's been a good day."

"Yeah." Sokka said, sitting down. "Yep."

"...sure has." Fire off. There was a lull in the conversation. And then–

"Do you have _any _idea what time it is?!" Sokka changed the subject abruptly, turning sharply to face the other boy.

"No. Do you?" Zuko's words were blunt. Fire on.

"Er...well, no. But's it's freakin' late, I know that much."

"What's your point?" Fire off.

"It's..._late_. People sleep. You're not sleeping." Sokka said with a whine, as if stating the obvious should fix everything.

"I told you before. I can't." Fire on, fire off, rapidly this time.

"Can't, or won't?" Sokka pressed.

"_Can't_." Zuko's voice took on a dangerous edge. Sokka, despite growing up with Katara, never really learned to quit while he was ahead.

"Won't, you mean. I think you're lying."

"Can't"

"Won't!" he said in a sing-song voice.

"It's CAN'T!" Zuko shouted. The flame in his hand flicked on and flared upwards suddenly, singeing the ceiling. Sokka coughed from the sudden smoke.

"Shhh, you'll wake everyone."

"You—!"

"Nightmares again?" Another abrupt subject change. Sokka was a master at them. Zuko just nodded. "What are they about?"

Zuko regarded him for a long moment. Sokka tried to meet his stare, but after a few seconds he had to break away from the intense golden eyes. Instead, he fidgeted.

"If I can't tell you, I can't tell anyone I guess." He mumbled. Sokka wondered if that meant he was going to get to hear it or not. But then Zuko continued. "When I decided to stop chasing the Avatar, I lost everything. I lost my entire purpose in life. Today I found that purpose again. I'm supposed to help the Avatar."

"What's this have to do with your nightmares?" Zuko just held a hand up, and continued.

"But despite that, I've still lost everything I once considered important to me. And in my sleep, I lose them all again, over and over. Sometimes I'm standing in front of my father, and he's got his hand raised in the air. I know what comes next, but I'm unable to do anything to change the outcome; sometimes my mother is there and he's hurting her and there's nothing I can do, and I'm forced to watch. In my dreams I have to watch my mother be tortured and _killed_!" His voice had grown tighter as he spoke, and the last few words were difficult to understand.

"Zuko..."

Zuko looked at him. Sokka was a bit started to see that his eyes were wet with tears. He paused, just for a moment, to reflect upon the choices he made in life that must have led him to end up here, comforting Zuko. He couldn't find a correlation.

"You know, when the fire nation attacked our village, our mother was killed."

Zuko frowned.

"Your sister told me that, a long while ago. I'm sorry for your loss, but I had nothing to do with that attack. I—"

"No, listen. We lost everything that day," he said. Zuko stared, in slight confusion. "But, that was years and years ago. And look at us now! We're doing fine! Well, depending on your definition of fine. I mean, we're holed up in the ruins of an abandoned air temple like sitting ducks waiting for your psychopathic sister to come and kill us, but mentally, we're 100 percent!"

Zuko blinked. Sokka sighed.

"I'm trying to say, time heals all wounds." Unconsciously, Zuko reached a hand up to feel the scar over his eye. Sokka balked. "Ahh, I didn't mean it literally. Yeah, burn marks will probably last forever. Sorry about that—"

"No, you're right." Zuko sounded calm.

"I am?"

"This scar used to be a mark of shame. A constant reminder that I had failed the fire nation and my father."

"Your father?" Sokka questioned. Zuko continued, interruption unheeded. He talked as if he was realizing something for the first time.

"But now I realize that I never failed him. He gave this scar to a _kid _who tried to hard to please him, who he knew would never fight back against his father. He's the one who failed. Now it's a mark of how much better I am than he his."

"Your _father _gave you that?!"

"Yes."

"Holy—wow."

"Please...it's past now, like I said. I'm...healed. Sort of. A little bit." Zuko seemed weary of the subject.

Sokka merely _hmm'ed _in response from lack of anything else to say. There was another long span of quiet, but this one was quite comfortable. The air was warm and from their safe place in the temple they could hear all the distant sounds of the forest. He could feel Zuko next to him, but neither said a word.

He was just beginning to nod off, when he suddenly was jerked wide awake by Zuko's voice.

"Sokka?"

"Hmmmyeah?" he murmured sleepily.

"Thanks." He spoke quietly, almost shyly.

"Fer what?"

"For listening. Today, and before."

Sokka just looked at him. He was awake now, at least temporarily.

"It's not a problem. Anytime." Those were the words that came out, but his brain wanted him to say something else. He wished he could figure out what.

"It...helps." Sokka didn't know what to say to that. He changed the subject again.

"You're still not going to sleep tonight, though?"

"I don't think so."

"Be careful. Aang tried not sleeping once. It was...bad."

"Thank you." Zuko smiled. Sokka gaped. _Two _'thank you's and another smile from the firebender, all in the span of a minute? The world as he knew it was crumbling around him!

"Well, at the very least, come back to Appa and _watch _the rest of us sleep," Sokka smirked, "Katara thinks it's suspicious that you hang around here at night."

"How did you explain _you _being with me?"

Sokka flushed at the memory of waking up snuggling Zuko's leg. Thank god for the dark. "Apparently, I sleepwalk."

"Do you, really?"

"I did last night." He grinned conspiratorially at Zuko hand extended a hand to help the other boy stand up. They walked back to the rest of the group in amicable silence. Then, just as Appa's great furry hide came into view, Zuko stopped.

"What is it?" Sokka asked, once he'd noticed.

"I thought it might go without saying, but..."

"But what?"

"Meeting like this...it's secret, right?"

"It is if nobody knows about it."

"I've never spoke so much about myself to anyone before."Zuko half-snapped. _Except for Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, and god knows what they'll do with the information now that I've turned traitor._ "I don't _want _anyone to know about it,"

"Then...nobody will," Sokka said, and it was simple as that. The water tribe boy turned back around and walked towards Appa. Zuko followed.

Sokka quickly settled in, leaning snugly against Appa's thick fur. He sighed in contentment. "Sweet sleep," he said, nearly gone. "Goodnight."

Zuko stared in wonderment at Sokka. Or perhaps it was amusement. Either way, he seemed to have little choice in the matter and leaned against the bison as well.

"Goodnight..." he whispered back, but Sokka was already asleep. Zuko shifted a bit to face him.

Definitely not what he expected.

The last thing Zuko remembered seeing, before his eyes closed against his will was Sokka's sleeping face.

* * *

"Rise and shine, sleepy heads."

Who? Sokka heard the voice, but he was so happy where he was right now. So warm. To move even an inch seemed like an act of sacrilege.

"Nggg frum pah," he told the voice, and burrowed his face in the warmth. Appa was so warm. Hmm. Sleepy. Appa's fur breathed on his ear and wrapped an arm around his back, pulling him closer.

"Ehhhhmmfur?" Sokka mumbled, opening his eyes partway. His world was blurry and unfocused.

"Nnnm. Warm," Appa's fur said. Sokka agreed. There was a pause and Appa's fur became very still.

Sokka woke up.

He pulled away from the warmth and found himself staring back at a pair of golden eyes. The eyes searched him, trying to find focus, and suddenly they became clear and opened wide.

"Good morning," Zuko said, his expression was befuddlingly blank.

"Morning," Sokka replied. He turned to look at his surroundings. Katara was standing in front of them, arms crossed. He couldn't tell if she was angry or amused. Toph stood next to her, and expression of expectant glee on her face. He looked back. Zuko was right next to him. There was no other way to describe it.

They were _cuddling_.

Sokka had his hands resting on Zuko's chest, Zuko's arms were around Sokka's waist, and their legs — well, their legs Sokka was going to have a fun time trying to sort out. Now that he was focusing on it, he seemed to have lost all feeling in his right leg from the knee down. More fun.

He looked back towards his sister and Toph's maniacal grin. They seemed to be waiting for something.

Back to Zuko, who still had not said a word past good morning nor made any gesture to move. Sokka blinked.

"This whole situation seems very familiar," he said calmly.

Katara groaned and Toph sighed loudly in disappointment as the two boys attempted to untangle themselves. Sokka stood up first, opened his mouth to say something, and promptly fell back down.

"Pins and needles! Pins and needles!" he cried, clutching his leg. Behind him, Zuko was dusting dirt and Appa hair off his shoulders. Katara tossed her braid back and frowned.

"Anyway, don't make a habit of it."

"Wasn't trying to," Sokka glared. The effectiveness of it was somewhat lessened by the fact that he was still on the ground, holding his leg.

"Okay, everyone. This is the plan today—" Katara turned to face everybody.

"Hey, hey, wait a minute," Sokka said, shaking off the prickling feeling and standing up, "_I'm_ the plan guy here."

"Alright. What's the plan, then?"

"Well, it's...we're. Tell them, Katara." Katara smiled and resumed her train of thought.

"Let's not forget why we're here, everyone. Aang, you've got to concentrate on improving your bending. That's the main thing. How do you feel?"

"Uh, okay, I guess." The airbender scratched his head, "I just need to keep practicing everything."

"You and Toph haven't done much earthbending lately, have you? Why don't you two go find that room that Haru was talking about the other day, then?"

Aang nodded, unable to find fault with that.

"How's the food supply?"

Sokka, who was closest to their bags, answered.

"We're almost out of rice...this fruit should be good for a few more days, though," he looked up from the bag, "and of course, we lack meat. Again."

"Thank you for volunteering to go find us some."

"What should I do?" Zuko asked.

"Go with my brother, to keep him out of trouble," Katara said distractedly, as she watched Sokka try and pull his boomerang out from where it was stuck under Appa's paw, lose his grip, fly backwards, and smack his head on the stone column halfway across the room. "I mean, so he can keep _you _out of trouble," she corrected herself quickly.

As she ran to catch up with Toph and Aang, Zuko wondered what it would take to get the waterbender to trust that his intentions were good.

* * *

Cutting through the thick underbrush of the forest, Sokka hummed to himself. There was nothing like hunting, chasing the noble prey, dragging its noble carcass back home. There was certainly nothing more manly.

"Huh, not too many animals around."

"Maybe they were all scared off by your humming."

"Maybe they were all scared off by your _face_—" Sokka retorted instantly, "—um, sorry."

"No harm done."

Sokka kept on humming, partly out of pride, but a faint noise nearby cut him off.

"Did you hear that?" Rustle, rustle.

"Hear what?"

"_That_." More rustling. Growls.

"It's coming from over there."

They inched closer towards the sound.

"What do you think it is?"

"A harmless rabbit?" Louder growling. Then, silence. Zuko and Sokka held their breaths.

Then _something _lunged out at them.

* * *

**End Chapter 2**

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n:** Here's chapter three. It took a little longer to write this time, sorry about that! I also want to apologize because this chapter is so pitifully short — about half the length of my usual ones. Think of it as an intermission chapter, I guess. Stuff will actually happen in the next one.

* * *

The thing towered over them, its shadow falling over the two boys. Distantly, it resembled a bear, except for the huge, pulsing sac that hung at the bear's neck, covered in tiny spines.

"Zuko," Sokka began slowly, "What is that?"

"That," Zuko replied equally as slowly, his voice barely above a whisper, "is a pufferbear."

"A _what_?!" he shouted, momentarily forgetting his place of danger in light of the ridiculous name. Zuko panicked and clamped his hand over Sokka's mouth.

"Shh! Just back away slowly."

"Mmmph mm mpf,"

The pufferbear snorted and a low rumble came from deep within its throat, making the sac around its neck vibrate. Thick strings of drool hung from the animal's mouth.

"They can't see very well," Zuko explained as they took tiny steps backward, "and generally, they're harmless—"

"Pah!" Sokka said, having finally worked himself free from Zuko's grasp, "If they're harmless, what are we creeping around for, then?" He pulled his boomerang out of its holster.

"No, don't—"

The pufferbear looked around for the source of the sudden movement, sniffed the air again, and growled. Its sac expanded rapidly, ballooning up to a spiky, rounded ball. Sokka stopped mid-throw in shock.

"The pufferbear makes itself look bigger if it feels threatened. It's a defense mechanism."

"Hah. That just makes it an easier target." Sokka smirked and let the boomerang fly.

"You fool!"

The sound of the explosion that followed was comparable to a bomb being detonated. The noise was deafening, and the bright light and ringing silence that followed soon after may have been why it took Sokka a few moments to realize that he was covered in tiny bits of the pufferbear's insides.

"Eewwww." he shuddered, trying to brush off the blood and goop. He looked around for Zuko, who had wisely ducked for cover. "What are you—"

"Another thing the pufferbear does when it feels threatened — it explodes."

"What a _completely _messed up animal." Sokka said, wiping chunk of internal organs from his face.

"The good news is that the rest of it is perfectly edible. This should be enough meat to last us for a while."

"What do you mean the _rest _of it?"

"The pufferbear's sac is full of toxic poison. By the way, you might want to clean yourself up, since you've got it all over you."

"What?! You could have told me that first!" Sokka jumped around in panic.

"Relax. As long as you don't let it get absorbed into your skin, you'll be fine. Or was it the other way around? Anyway—"

"What do I do?!" Sokka grabbed Zuko and shook him by the shoulders.

"There's a river over there," Zuko pointed. Sokka took off like a rocket, dust trailing in his wake. Zuko smiled to himself. Once the water tribesman was out of sight, he turned to the carcass of the pufferbear. "Now, how are we supposed to carry this back to the temple?"

* * *

It took him longer than he thought, cleaning up the carcass and stripping away what was edible from the parts that weren't, but he was finally finished and now made his way towards the river, dragging the bear's meat on a tarp behind him. It was too heavy for him to lift by himself.

The sound of gently running water reached his ears as he neared the river. From his memory, the river was wide and shallow, with a weak current. He brushed aside a palm frond and it came into view.

"Sokka?" he ventured, and the boy in question looked up.

"Hey, I'm almost done," Sokka said, and went back to washing. The water went up to his stomach, but it was so clear and pristine that it was obvious the boy was wearing nothing. Well, why should he be? His clothes, washed free of the pufferbear's poison, were laid out to dry on the riverbank.

Zuko had never really looked at the water tribe boy before, but right now it seemed that he couldn't look anywhere else. In his head, he'd always scoffed at Sokka's string bean physique – the boy was made of noodles compared to him – but now, upon closer inspection, Sokka was anything but string bean. Skinny, yes, but perhaps lean was a better word. His arms, shoulders, every inch of him looked strong and Zuko thought perhaps he'd underestimated how hard the boy worked. And lower — no, he wouldn't go there. Not today. He forced himself to keep his view at eye level.

Which was perhaps a mistake. Zuko had been staring, and Sokka had been watching Zuko stare. It was nearing dusk by this time, the sun a blazing orb resting on the horizon, and the light reflecting off the water made Sokka's eyes, a clear icy blue, shine and seem to look straight through him.

Sokka smirked.

"What?" he asked, voice full of faux innocence.

Zuko caught hold of himself and tried to shake off the blush he felt approaching.

"Nothing," he said snappishly, "Are you done yet? You've been in there forever."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm done," Sokka made his way to the riverbank. Zuko turned away as he stepped out of the water and pulled his clothes on. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply in and out, trying to regain some measure of composure. When Sokka's voice was suddenly right next to his ear, he nearly jumped ten feet in the air. "You know," Sokka said, sniffing his clothing, "I got the poison off, but the _smell _is still there. Yech."

That was exactly what Zuko needed to hear. Sokka, acting his normal airheaded self, to bring Zuko back down to earth. How could he ever have thought—with _this _guy—it was just ridiculous. He willed the images of Sokka bathing out of his mind.

"Let's just try to get this back before sundown."

* * *

"I'm impressed, Sokka," Katara said. Everyone had gathered around to see what the boys had returned with, "I didn't actually expect you to get anything."

"Yeah, well—" Sokka puffed up his chest, trying to look proud.

"You underestimate him," Zuko interjected. Sokka deflated. What? But Zuko had done most of the work — Sokka was sure he'd want to take credit for it, to win over Katara if nothing else.

"Oh, what would you know?" Katara huffed and stalked away.

"I think she likes you," Sokka said, elbowing Zuko in the ribs.

"That's not true," Zuko waved Sokka away, frowning, and walked in the opposite direction of Katara.

"I was...joking...?" he finished weakly. "Augh! Why does everybody have to be so moody?"

"I don't know," said Aang, who grinned widely at Sokka, "Laughter is the best medicine. Or so the monks used to say."

"Ha ha ha...ha." Sokka tried, "Ha...it's not working, Aang. Their depression is seeping into my very pores!" he fell dramatically on the ground, "Moping...is...imminent!"

Aang laughed, and his laughter was catching, and soon Sokka was laughing, too. Zuko had been acting strangely since they'd come back from hunting. And Katara...well, these days, she was just plain impossible to approach. Forget them, anyway.

* * *

Well, he tried to forget, but in the case of one firebending prince, the task proved more difficult than Sokka had anticipated. Dinner was eaten (pufferbear was a little gamey, but still tastier than expected) and bedrolls were brought out, fires extinguished.

The soundless hours of the night found Zuko in his secret place, where he'd taken to coming every night since settling at the temple. It was hardly a surprise when Sokka came to join him.

"We really must stop meeting like this," Zuko said, and realized it almost sounded like he was flirting. Sokka didn't seem to notice, as he merely sat down next to Zuko. He had in his hand two apples. He held one out to Zuko, who took it.

"We wouldn't have to, if you'd sleep like a normal person." He yawned. "Do you realize how many precious seconds of dream time I'm losing right now?" Now that was something strange.

"If it's so important to you, why do you keep meeting me here?" he asked. Sokka chuckled and rested his head against the wall behind him. He closed his eyes in thought.

"Why do I, I wonder? I don't know." Zuko took the opportunity of Sokka's closed eyes to observe him. The moonlight seemed to cradle Sokka's skin, casting shadows over every slight curve. Despite the fact that warm air currents wafted through every corridor of the temple, and that Sokka, being from an ice-covered continent, should be used to more extreme weather, small goose bumps were visible on his bare, tanned arms. Zuko had the sudden and irrepressible urge to reach out and see what those arms felt like—

Sokka's eyes flew open.

"Sleep!" he shouted with all of his usual coherency. Zuko nearly fell back from the abruptness of it all. And just what had he been about to do?

"Excuse me?"

"Sleep! I mean, slept. I mean, that is, last night. You slept last night, didn't you?" Sokka spoke so fast he stumbled over all his vowels and consonants.

"Well...I woke up this morning," Zuko said slowly. How could he forget that? "So, it logically follows that I must have fallen asleep."

"Exactly!" Sokka said triumphantly, "and you didn't have any nightmares, did you?"

"Um..." Zuko tried to think, "I guess...I didn't."

"This is a major breakthrough. You could try to sound more excited about it!"

"Hooray?" he tried, "I'm sorry, but I can't get that excited when—" when he was realizing, increasingly, that being around the water tribe boy was making him forget about everything else, nightmares included.

* * *

**End Chapter 3**

* * *

Again, sorry about the shortness. It seemed appropriate to end it there. In the next chapter: Azula! Nefarious plots! Blossoming romance! All of this and more...may or may not be appearing.


	4. Chapter 4

**a/n:** Fourth chapter! This is a new record for me, I'll have you know. Some notes, the thing with Sokka's necklace – I may have gotten that idea from another fanfic somewhere, but I don't remember. So, if it seems familiar to you, I'm very sorry. The resemblance is unintentional.

Thanks to everyone for your reviews, it means a lot to me! I'm always happy to receive them. And to those of you who aren't reviewing, well...I'm still happy that you're reading!

* * *

"Hey," said Sokka, sitting down next to Zuko in what now was a familiar way. It felt as if he belonged there, to speak the least. Their nighttime meetings had become so routine that on the nights where Sokka didn't come, Zuko had to admit there was the feeling that his day was incomplete.

"Hey," Zuko said back. He stared out, the view of the jungle afforded by the air temple's unique position on the rocks and amazing sight, especially under the full moon. Suddenly, he felt an arm hook around his own. "You're...sitting awfully close."

"Oh," said Sokka, seeming disinclined to care. He rested his head on Zuko's shoulder. "Sorry. It's just that all of a sudden, I can't seem to get close enough."

"Wh-what?" Zuko felt his heart flop around helplessly in his chest. He made a futile motion at escaping from Sokka's grasp.

"Don't tell me you haven't felt it, too."

"You're acting strange!"

"And so what if I am? Strange can be good sometimes!" Sokka peered at him, clear eyes seeming innocent and devious all at once. He smiled coyly at Zuko. _Coyly_?!

"L-look, I don't know what you're getting at."

"I think you _really _do." And then, in one swift motion, Sokka was on top of the firebender, pinning his arms and legs to the ground. "Stop fighting it. I've been watching you."

As he said this he leaned down, easing himself slowly against Zuko, until they lay flush against each other, faces inches apart. Then, he closed those few inches and Zuko bit back the whimper that was forming in his throat at the sensation of Sokka's breath hot against his ear. The voice, though Zuko could barely concentrate on the words so overwhelmed was he with sensation, was low, seductive.

"I know what you want, Zuko." There was the feather-light touch of Sokka's lips pressed against his jaw. Zuko shivered.

"Zuko," Sokka repeated, kissing him again, gently, on his neck. Zuko tried to wriggle out of Sokka's hold, but the movement seemed only to encourage him. And the more that Sokka went on with this, the less Zuko wanted to get away.

"Zuko," he said again, kissing him more forcefully, this time on his collarbone, "Zuko," on the shoulder,

"_Zuko!_"

* * *

"Zuko?" His eyes flew open. Toph was kneeling over him, staring blankly in his general direction. "You okay?"

Slowly he came to awareness. He felt hot — really hot — and his forehead itched. He reached up to find that it was covered in sweat, his hair sticking to it uncomfortably. He was lying in a bedroll – not his own, he could tell that much just from the smell of it — but at some point he'd kicked the covers away and rolled halfway off of it.

"What—" his throat was painfully dry and raspy, "What happened?" He tried to sit up and his arms nearly gave out from under him.

"You were shaking pretty violently. I could feel you all the way from the next room over." She pointed across the open hall that they slept in to a small archway. It was no small distance to be able to _sense _something from.

Zuko looked around. Except for Toph, who had presumably come running to see what was wrong, there was nobody else in the hall. Even Appa was mysteriously absent.

"Where'd everybody go?" All of their supplies and bedrolls were put away neatly in a corner, most likely Katara's doing.

"It's already the middle of the afternoon," Toph explained, and Zuko now could indeed see that the sun was high in the sky, "Sokka said not to wake you."

Now that was curious. And then, the mention of the water tribe boy brought the dream flooding back all at once. The touches, his _voice_...Zuko was thankful that Toph was blind, and therefore couldn't see him blushing.

Toph narrowed her sightless eyes at him. "Why are you in his sleeping bag, anyway?"

Well, that was one mystery solved anyway. Zuko looked at the bag in question as if it held the answer.

"I don't even remember going to bed," Zuko confessed. "And anyway! How do you know this is his?"

"Sokka has a very distinct smell," she raised an eyebrow, "You two are _close_, I'm surprised you haven't noticed."

Zuko resisted the urge to squeak. Toph was blind, but he had to remember that she wasn't stupid. Out of everybody in the group, it was Toph who had immediately understood him to the greatest degree. Aside from the incident at the beginning with her feet, which earned him an understandable amount of distrust from the blind girl, Toph shared none of the others' history towards him which made a closer understanding impossible. Partly from that, and partly from the fact that her other senses were heightened, Zuko got the feeling she knew more than she was telling.

"I've noticed," he admitted, for there was a definite _Sokka _scent to the sleeping bag. He still didn't know when he fell asleep in the first place, let alone how he ended up in the other boy's sleeping bag. He remembered that last night, he'd managed to steer the conversation away from Sokka's favorite subject (namely, Zuko's insomnia) and on to more harmless, less touchy subjects, but there his recollection was cut short. Apparently he'd fallen asleep somehow...

And he'd dreamt. Not his usual nightmares, but a dream of an entirely different sort. This one was upsetting in a way that Zuko didn't feel he was ready to think about. And then, in a turn of events that eluded him, he woke up in what was essentially Sokka's bed. The idea was oddly intimate.

"Hey, so, are you okay, or what?" Toph asked again, "Cause I was sorta in the middle of sparring with Aang. He's probably wondering what happened. And unless you want to explain things to him, too..." she trailed off on a speculative note, again giving Zuko that uneasy feeling that she was reading his mind.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," he said, just as his stomach gave a nauseous lurch and garbled his words, "I think. I'm probably just hungry." He was still shaky all over, but his body no longer felt like it was on fire.

"Okay, if you say so." Toph said, sounding unconvinced. "I'm...gonna go back then." She got up to leave. Zuko watched her go and then focused on his flip-flopping stomach, trying to will it to settle down. He'd be fine once he ate something.

* * *

After rummaging through the supplies for a small breakfast, Zuko walked into the room where Toph said everyone else was. The sparring match was apparently over, though Zuko doubted the room, which now featured random outcropping of stone, would ever recover. Toph and Katara were seated together near the fountain; the earthbender had apparently been coerced into letting Katara braid her hair. Aang was whizzing around the air on that little sphere-thing that he made which Zuko did not yet have a name for. He dissolved it when he saw Zuko and landed nimbly on the ground.

"Well, looks like sleeping beauty finally decided to join us," Katara said jokingly, yet her voice held venom in it.

"Hey, Sifu Hotman!" Aang said, running up to meet him. He stopped short. "You don't look so good."

"I feel fine," Zuko said, exasperated. He was only half-lying. Food had made him feel a little better but his legs still had decided to turn to jelly if he moved around too fast, "I just woke up on the wrong side of the...sleeping bag." He looked at Katara. "Where's Sokka?"

But Aang was the one who answered.

"He went up to the upper levels of the temple early this morning, didn't say why. He was very clear that nobody was to bother him."

"And you listened?"

"Everyone needs their privacy," Toph interjected.

Without saying another word, Zuko walked out the way he had come. Privacy? That only made him more curious.

* * *

The upper level of the air temple was, architecturally speaking, the bottom of the building though in actuality it was closest to the underside of the cliff that the temple clung to. The floors were wider here with less obstructing them. In short, a perfect area for training without interruption.

Sokka was standing in the middle of the floor, sword drawn. He seemed so immersed in concentration that he did not notice Zuko's entrance. The firebender took a seat on a stone bench towards one of the edges of the room and rested (the climb up all those stairs had exhausted him for some reason), observing the water tribe boy. Sokka was training, he realized. It was something that Zuko had never seen him do. He had assumed based on their few direct encounters with one another that since the boy couldn't bend, throwing around a boomerang was about all he was good for. But Sokka handled that sword like he was _born _to it.

Slicing the air in wide arcs at times, or cutting sharply forward at others, Sokka sparred against an invisible opponent with a surprising amount of forcefulness and grace. He wouldn't have thought the boy capable of such delicate maneuver if he wasn't seeing it for himself.

Sokka cried out, lending power to a notably forceful thrust of the sword, and then the dream of last night melded with the reality of watching him now, along with the memory of his body from the other day. It was too much at once. A quiet groan escaped his throat, and though he clasped a hand quickly to his mouth, Sokka's concentration was broken and he looked over.

_He heard me. _Zuko looked up, almost guiltily. For a while neither said anything.

"You surprised me," Sokka finally spoke, sheathing his sword.

"I didn't want to interrupt,"

"I take it you were, um, watching me?" he said hesitantly, sitting down next to the prince. Zuko nodded in admission. "Haa, that's a little embarrassing."

"Why?" Zuko asked seriously, "You're good. Why didn't you want anyone to know what you were doing?"

"Really, what's good about waving a sword around?" Sokka said, sounding a little depressed, "Even if I'm good, it's nothing compared to what the four of you can do."

He could firebend, Katara had mastered waterbending, and Toph was an earthbending prodigy. That wasn't even mentioning the Avatar. It stood to reason, Zuko thought, that Sokka would feel a little inadequate in the face of all that.

"I wanted to learn how to use a sword so that I could be helpful. But that wasn't even enough to protect everyone. So I practice in private."

* * *

"I have to admit...I am curious about what Sokka's been doing up there. He's been gone all morning," Katara said. The other two looked over as she stood up, "You know, I'm going to go find him."

"Zuko's with him by now," Toph stated, not moving from her perch.

"Uh, so?" she turned to leave.

"I'm just saying, if you see something you didn't want to see, don't come crying to me about it," Toph said defensively.

"I think I can handle their bickering, thanks."

Toph closed her eyes and sighed.

* * *

"That necklace..." Zuko said, noticing it glint in the sun, "Why are you always wearing it?" Sokka looked down, though it was impossible to see it himself. He touched a hand to his neck.

"What's it to you?" he said with a smile on his face.

"Just curious,"

"My father carved it out of whalebone. It's a tradition from my village," Sokka said, unclasping the necklace and handing it over to Zuko, "sort of like my sister's..."

"She told me a little about that, once," Zuko interrupted.

"...only, the significance is reversed."

"Reversed?"

"Yeah. Technically, Katara's supposed to wear her necklace when she gets engaged – it's a symbol of marriage. I'm supposed to wear this _until_ I get engaged. Or until..." he trailed off.

"Until what?" Zuko asked.

"It's embarrassing, okay?!" Sokka snapped. He looked at the ground, blushing. "I'm supposed to take it off when I 'become a man' in that sense..."

"You mean...?" Zuko turned the necklace over in his hands, feeling the smoothness of it.

"Yeah," Sokka said softly, clearly feeling self-conscious. Zuko smiled.

"That puts a lot of pressure on you, doesn't it? To find somebody." he said. Sokka sighed and slumped over, letting himself lean against Zuko.

Zuko felt his heart rate increase at this simple gesture and willed himself to not think about that dream, which was harder than expected considering what they were talking about. He tried to continue the conversation as normal.

"Still, to have something so personal constantly on display like that..."

"Tell me about it," Sokka whined, "I'm just lucky that the tradition's gone out of fashion, mostly. Not many people know of the significance. Katara makes sure I keep following it, though, to remember our mother."

"She cares about you a lot," Zuko said, glancing at the boy resting against him. He felt more at ease like this then he ever imagined he could be.

"Yeah..."

"Sokka?" Both boys looked up suddenly at Katara's voice. "We were all wondering what you were doing up—" she stopped short at the sight of them, sitting so close together. He eyes darted to Sokka's necklace, still held by Zuko, and her eyes widened. Zuko handed the necklace back to Sokka, but it was too late.

"You..."

"He was just showing me—" Zuko tried to explain.

"Sokka, you _traitor_!" She shouted, tears in her eyes.

"—huh?" "What did I do?" they both spoke at the same time. Katara ran out of the room.

"Katara, wait!" Sokka shouted after her. Zuko leapt up to follow, but as soon as he stood, his legs buckled and his vision danced with dark spots. The cry of a hawk distracted him further.

He spun around to face the source of the noise, and there at the window was a messenger hawk from the fire nation, peering in at their window. It was a bird he recognized well.

"That's—"

"Katara—" _THUMP_ "...Zuko?"

Everything went dark.

* * *

**Chapter 4 End**

* * *

Sorry if it got too confusing at the end there, I tried to write it as clearly as I could. In any case, all will be explained in the next chapter! Which might not be written as quickly as I've been writing them so far...we'll see.


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n:** Sorry for the wait, everyone! I had some difficulty writing this chapter. I hope it doesn't show too bad...anyway, thanks again for all your reviews! You guys are what keeps me writing.

* * *

Zuko didn't regain consciousness until much later that day, when the sun was already beginning to disappear behind the trees. When he opened his eyes, Aang and the others were seated near him. Katara looked like she'd rather be somewhere else. Sokka, who was sitting closest, was sleeping sitting straight up. He was snoring.

"You're awake!" Aang shouted and jumped up, waking Sokka. He blinked a few times and then looked at Zuko and smiled. Zuko smiled back hesitantly.

Then Sokka smacked him over the head.

"You _idiot_!" he said, glaring, "Why didn't you say something if you were sick?"

"I didn't know I was," Zuko replied honestly.

"When you fainted, I thought—" Sokka began, speaking so low he doubted the others could hear. There was something unfamiliar shining in his eyes, and with a start Zuko realized that it must have been concern. Then Sokka's expression changed abruptly to one of frustration. At himself? Or at Zuko? "Aw, never mind. Anyway..."

"You've contracted jungle fever!" Aang said, eyes lighting up with realization. Judging by the shocked looks on the others' faces, it was one he hadn't shared with anybody. Katara recovered first, and gave a little forced smile.

"Where do you get that idea from, Aang?" she said hesitatingly.

"Well, we're in a jungle, and he's got a fever. What else could it be?" Aang said without the slightest doubt. Everyone sighed.

"That's not what it means, Aang..." Sokka said. He turned to Zuko. "But he's right about the fever thing. You're – no pun intended – burning up."

"I don't know how this could have happened..." Zuko said bewilderedly. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble..."

"Not trouble, just worry," Sokka said distantly, and touched Zuko's arm. Zuko looked at Sokka's hand there and guessed the gesture was unintentional, because when he noticed he blushed and snatched his hand away.

"Maybe it was caused by lack of sleep," Toph suggested innocently. Both boys gaped at her. "Just sayin'"

"Well, anyway, Katara!" Sokka said, "You can heal him, right?" Katara looked shocked at the mere suggestion, but then covered it up by saying,

"I've only healed injuries before. Sickness is different," she crossed her arms across her chest and looked away. Aang bounded over to her and clasped her hands in his.

"That just means you've never tried, right?" He asked with all of his usual optimism. "Please, Katara. If Zuko's sick it's a problem for everyone." Katara blushed and her expression softened somewhat.

"A-alright. I'll try. But only because _you _asked me to."

"Thanks, Katara!"

Katara walked over to Zuko and knelt down in front of him, pointedly avoiding looking at him directly. She closed her eyes and everyone fell silent, giving her room to concentrate. Slowly, she lifted her hands palm-down over Zuko, and water came out of her flask to rest over him, casting both of them in a blue light. It hovered their shakily for a few seconds, humming. Then, abruptly, the water retreated back into the flash. Zuko let out a sickly sounding cough.

"I'm sorry Aang, but I don't think it's possible." She smiled apologetically.

"It's okay, at least you tried." He smiled back. Katara felt something prickling at the back of her neck, and when she turned around, her brother was glowering at her. She frowned, but only turned back away.

"Sorry, Zuko," Aang said, kneeling next to the firebending prince, who looked ready to puke, "Guess you're going to have to get over this the old-fashioned way."

Zuko paled, and Aang held out a bucket.

* * *

Later, Sokka grabbed Katara by the arm as she was coming back from throwing away their dinner scraps, and pulled her into an empty room.

"What's the big idea, Sokka?" she snapped.

"You!" he snapped back. "Why didn't you help Zuko today?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

"You saw as clear as anyone, I tried. But I don't have the power to heal sickness, only injuries." she explained.

"I don't think that's true."

"What?!"

"I was thinking about this. Bending has a lot to do with willpower, right? Like when Aang couldn't firebend because he was too worried about hurting someone."

Katara nodded, not seeing where her brother was going with it.

"I think that you have the ability to heal sickness, but because you don't like Zuko, your heart wasn't in it, and therefore, you couldn't."

"What?" Katara said, shocked, "Okay, true, I may not like Zuko, but do you really think I'm so selfish that I'd put the safety of the group at risk because of that?"

"I don't think you even realize you're doing it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ever since he got here, you've been alienating him."

"Everyone was!"

"At first, yes. But he's proven that he wants to help. He's on _our _side, Katara. But if you don't trust him—"

"And why do you, huh? Why do you trust him?!" She was shouting. "He's _firenation_!" Tears formed in her eyes.

"He didn't kill our mother, Katara." Sokka's voice was cool and level. He held his arms out. With a sob Katara embraced her brother.

"As good as." she said, her voice watery.

"No," Sokka repeated softly, his hand resting on Katara's head, "He's not like the rest of them," Katara's eyes shot open and she pulled away to look Sokka in the face.

"What?" Sokka said, confused.

"I think I get it, now."

"Get what?"

"Why you've been defending him so much. Why you care about what I think of him." Her voice turned teasing, "You _like _him"

"No!" Sokka reacted instantly, "I mean, yes! I like him, the same way I like you, and Toph, and Aang, and Appa, and Momo—"

"Very well, I'll put up with him for the sake of the group," then she turned serious, "But I will never accept him into our family, Sokka."

"You've got the wrong idea!" he whined.

* * *

Zuko slept for a long time, and when he opened his eyes again night had passed and the first light of the morning was filtering through the trees. He looked around. Last night's campfire was all but reduced to a few valiantly glowing embers which snapped and crackled occasionally. Everyone else was still asleep, and Zuko sat there for a few moments, thinking about how odd it was to wake up with other people around him.

As if on cue, over by Appa, Sokka yawned and stretched himself awake.

"Good morning," he said, his voice in the early morning air as clear as a bell. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," he said as Sokka walked over to sit down next to him. "I think I slept through the worst of it."

"That's good to hear," Sokka said. Zuko then looked down, out of some strange but familiar feeling.

"That reminds me...why am I in your sleeping bag? Again."

"Oh, uh..." Sokka looked sheepish. "The first time it was by accident, but—"

"The hawk!" Zuko interrupted, suddenly remembering something.

"Excuse me?"

"That hawk, earlier today— no, yesterday already. That's Azula's personal messenger hawk. She knows we're here."

"How—?" Sokka began, thrown off by the sudden change of subject. Zuko stood up quickly, wobbling slightly but then quickly gaining his balance.

"Why are we still here? We should have left immediately." He paced around the room, and after one lap the dark spots in his vision came back. He swooned, but Sokka was there to catch him before he fell on the ground.

"We couldn't make a quick escape in this condition, anyway." Sokka reasoned.

"Then you should have left without me!"

"That's not how we do things, Zuko." He gently guided the price back to a sitting position. "But I think you're right. If that hawk was Azula's, then the safest thing to do now would be to get as far away from here as possible. Stay there, I'll tell the others."

* * *

After it became known that, most likely, Azula was on her way to meet them, the decision to get packing was unanimous. Moving quickly would prove difficult; flying on Appa was out of the question – he attracted too much attention, and they had no idea how far or close Azula was to them. Coupling that with the fact that Zuko was still recovering, and needed to stop more often than the others, and the fact that Aang refused to even think about leaving Appa behind (meaning they were slowed down even further by the difficulty of clearing a path for the giant bison through the forest), their goings were slow indeed.

"You know, I'm sort of getting used to this feeling," Aang commented after they had to stop for the thousandth time to free one of Appa's back legs from where it was caught on a tangle of upended tree roots. "Of being pursued. It's going to be weird when nobody's after me," he said, commenting on some vague point in the future.

"You're the Avatar, Aang," Sokka craned his head back to shout to Aang from where he was at the front of the trail, "There's always going to be someone after you." He had one arm snaked around Zuko's waist, partially supporting the firebender's weight. Zuko was improved leaps and bounds since the other night, but the group had been constantly on the move since then and it was slowing down his recovery. Secretly, Sokka took it as an immense compliment that Zuko, of all people, allowed himself to rely on Sokka — in front of everyone, no less.

Aang sighed in defeat. Then he shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well, that's the way it is I guess." Aang's attitude always surprised Sokka. Sure, he had his moments of depression and defeatism — the boy had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and not in a cliche way either — but overall his ability to cope and adapt was far beyond his years.

"I don't see why we can't just _fly_," Toph whined. Everyone turned to look at her. "It's ten times faster, so it wouldn't matter if Azula saw us or not. Besides, it's not as if we're really being that stealthy. Appa's knocking down trees left and right. Don't you think _somebody's _going to notice that?" Appa let out a mournful roar of apology. "No offense," she tacked on.

"Toph, I'm sure we'd all rather fly," Katara said placidly, placing her hands on Toph's shoulder, "But we have to play it safe. If there's even the slightest chance that Azula doesn't know what direction we went it, we have to hold on to that chance. And there's no reason she should know for sure where we are, since she only has that hawk to tell her the general location,"

She looked at Zuko and narrowed her eyes, who felt the glare and returned it. "Unless," she said in that tone of voice that hinted that she'd already made up her mind about whatever she was about to suggest, "— unless she had help from someone else."

"Katara..." Sokka said warningly. She glanced at her brother and her determination faltered, but only for a second. She'd promised to him to try and get along with the firebender (even if it was for the most misguided of reasons) but now it seemed that she'd reached her limit of playing nice.

"I'd never betray you, Sokka. You're my only brother," she said, and Sokka was confused at the deceleration, until she added, "Why shouldn't all siblings feel that way?"

The words triggered something deep within Zuko, because he pushed away Sokka to stand on his own two feet.

"How _dare _you!" he shouted, pointing a finger at Katara. She moved away as if she thought fire would start shooting out of it, "How dare you assume to know anything about my family!" Sokka, who knew now what a touchy subject family was for the Zuko, was momentarily worried that he would start bending, and then they'd have a forest fire on their hands. It was a credit to his judge of character that Zuko restrained himself.

"All I'm saying is, it's a little suspicious that you see this hawk and all of a sudden we have to start running! How do we know we're not walking right into your trap?"

"All the things I've done for you and you _still _don't trust me?" He and Katara were face to face now, practically snarling at each other.

"All the things you've done is _why _I don't trust you!" she shouted back. Sokka decided it was time to step in. If they got any louder, Azula might hear them. Even if she wasn't anywhere nearby.

"Zuko," he said, stepping in between them. He turned to his sister, "Katara. I trust him. If you can't trust him isn't that the same thing as not being able to trust me?" Well, that came out slightly more confusing than he intended, but it seemed to be understood.

"It's not the same thing at all," Katara said, looking put out, but she seemed to give up. As the group started moving again, she shouted, "Hey, Zuko!"

"What?" he said, tiredness seeping into his voice.

"Remember what I told you about Aang?" Zuko's eyes widened and Aang looked up at the sound of his name. "Well, that goes double for my brother!"

If possible, Zuko's eyes widened further as Katara smiled menacingly at him.

"What? What's going on?" Aang bounced around, "I heard my name. What's going on? Are you talking about me?"

Everyone else walked in silence.

* * *

**Chapter 5 End  
**

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**a/n:** For those of you still wondering what Katara said to Zuko about Aang, see episode 12, season 3 - "The Western Air Temple". I think it's at the very end of the episode. Anyway, please enjoy chapter 6! It's longer than the other chapters by about 600 words, hooray! Another personal record has been broken. :D

* * *

The group walked on tirelessly until nightfall without any further incidents. Katara wanted to try traveling through the night, insisting on the importance of getting as far as they could while they had the chance. Sokka, however, felt otherwise and was very clear on voicing his opinion.

"Kataraaa. I'm _tired_," he whined, dragging his feet in the dirt.

"Stop being such a baby."

"Actually...I am too. We all are," Toph said, and sat down on a nearby log without waiting for Katara's reply. She rubbed her feet. "I've got blisters on my blisters,"

"Well–" Katara said, taken aback, "I guess...I mean, a little rest wouldn't hurt,"

And so right where they had stopped, they set up camp for the night.

* * *

Although lately the nightmares had stopped, mostly, it was still hard to break the habit of staying awake at night. When everyone else had gone to sleep he lay on his back and looked up into the sky, his roof a canopy of stars instead of the stone ceiling of the air temple that he'd almost grown used to.

He closed his eyes. It was mostly the same. Dirt and sky instead of stone, and no fire here because of obvious reasons. But Zuko found it routine all the same, and the thought frightened him even while it excited him. He'd never looked forward to tomorrow as much as he had these past few days. And yet, even then, his past — in the form of Azula — was threatening to destroy what peace he'd found.

Without opening his eyes he could sense Sokka's approach, and he knew without having the benefit of a clock nearby that it was the same time as it had been every night that Sokka came to sit near him.

This routine was something that Zuko could get used to.

He didn't make any indication that he'd heard Sokka, and Sokka didn't say or do anything to make himself known to Zuko, not even the expected reproach for being awake. Instead, the most peculiar thing happened.

There was a tingling, that feeling he got when someone was close to him, that put his body on high alert. He was ready to jump up and attack, when — the tingling feeling became Sokka's hand, warm. Rough fingertips ghosted gently over Zuko's face, exploring.

Zuko's breath hitched in his throat but he willed himself not to open his eyes. Don't move, he thought. Sokka continued his exploration, hand dipping down Zuko's cheek to his jaw, his neck, in an eerie parallel to Zuko's dream of a few nights back. He could picture that hand, tan and perfect.

Then Sokka's hand moved up again, and he could feel the electricity in the air as he hovered it right above Zuko, hesitating. Then, even lighter than before, he traced a line over Zuko's scarred eye, feeling the warped skin there, too.

Zuko's eyes flew open automatically at the feeling. Sokka started a bit, but made no move to remove his hand or pretend he hadn't been touching him. He'd been caught. For several moments neither boy spoke. Zuko felt that the heat of the jungle was becoming unbearable.

Finally, Sokka drew his hand back. Zuko released a deep breath he didn't know he'd been holding in, but the charged atmosphere failed to disperse.

"How—" Sokka started to say, but his voice sounded strangled. He made a show of clearing his throat, "How're you feeling?" What a question. Should he answer honestly?

_Confused. Worried. Completely infatuated._

"I'm fine," he said.

"That's good," Sokka replied, and Zuko got the feeling that they'd had this conversation before. Sokka looked worried for a second, then said, "I wanted to apologize. For the things my sister said. She shouldn't have—"

"No. She's right," Zuko said darkly, "You're the one who's being too trusting here, Sokka," The other boy's name felt foreign on his lips, and Zuko realized that despite spending his company with the water tribe boy, they'd rarely called each other by their names. It hadn't seemed appropriate or necessary, somehow.

"Probably," Sokka said.

"Anyway," Zuko continued, "An apology doesn't mean anything coming from you. It has to come from her."

Sokka didn't have anything to say, because it was true enough.

"You're lucky," Zuko said after a while.

"How do you figure?" Sokka asked.

"You have a family, one that cares about you. Katara wouldn't hate me nearly as much if she wasn't worried about you, I bet."

"Hey, but what about Aang, and Toph? She hates you because she cares about them, too."

"You're not helping."

"Sorry."

* * *

Their conversation dwindled off to nothing after that point, and Sokka drifted off to sleep. Zuko took note of the fact that the tribesman had fallen asleep curled up next to him, instead of returning to the warmth of his sleeping bag. Whether it was a conscious choice or not, well...

He looked at the boy sleeping next to him. It was difficult to deny to himself the fact that he felt _something _for the teen. He was still in shock over it, though. When he decided to join the Avatar, he never imagined something like this could have happened. The sense of contentment that had been ghosting him for the past few days finally gained a more solid feeling as he looked at Sokka.

There was a rustling in the bushes. Zuko sat up, alert. Nobody else stirred. Had he imagined that just now?

Then the rustling came again.

"Who's there?" He called out, but there was no reply. It might have been an animal, like the pufferbear, but Zuko didn't feel like taking chances. He waited for the noise one more time to be sure that he had heard it, then summoned a flame to his hand and went to investigate.

The last thing he expected to see hiding in those bushes was Mai. He yelped as he came face to face with her calm, bored expression in the dark.

"Be quiet," she said in her usual raspy voice, as if there was nothing strange about her being there. She looked over Zuko carefully. "So Azula was right. I didn't want to believe her."

"What are you talking about?" He whispered.

"You're with _them _now, aren't you. You've turned traitor." He stiffened at his girlfriend's (ex-girlfriend? But they'd never really broken up, he realized.) statement. But in the strictest sense, it was true.

"I'm doing what I think is right." He said.

"Aren't we all."

"What are you doing here?" he snapped.

"I wanted to see you!" Mai hissed, allowing some small measure of emotion to come creeping into her voice. Then, "And Azula sent me."

"She knows where we are, then?" Zuko asked. Mai nodded calmly.

"She told me to come find you before we launched our attack in the morning. She said, that even though you were a traitor she'd forgive you if you came back. Please, Zuko. Come back with me."

Forgiveness, so easily? Not in Zuko's experience.

"Azula told you this herself? Those were her words?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Then...I won't." Azula always lied. Mai looked stricken for a moment, close to tears. Wordlessly, she stepped closer to Zuko and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his clothes. Zuko awkwardly patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this," she said, her voice muffled by the fabric. She sounded sincerely upset and Zuko cringed to know that he was the one who caused it. As she clung to him he thought that maybe, just maybe, if he hadn't met Sokka, he'd be back in the firenation camp already. Mai was innocent of all this; just another pawn of his sister. He still cared for her on some level, that much was true.

"I'm sorry too," Zuko said softly. "I did miss—" then his words were cut off abruptly as a hand connected sharply and suddenly with his neck. He stood, paralyzed, unable to move or speak. Mai stepped away and smiled at him.

"Isn't that a neat trick? Ty Lee's been teaching me," was all she said before leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "See you later," she said ominously.

Then Zuko's world went dark.

* * *

He had no way of telling how much time had passed. When he regained consciousness, he was tied to a post in an unfamiliar room. A tent, by the look of it. His head felt like it was full of cotton and his vision swam. Most likely from whatever it was that Mai did to him. And he'd trusted her...

Zuko tried to focus. The details of the tent were beginning to catch his eye...the coordinating red-hued decor, the lavish accouterments, and most unmistakably, the pennant over the doorway that bore the fire nation's crest. So, he'd been captured. But if that was the case, then where had everyone else gone? Were they captured too? Had an attack gone underway, as Mai had promised?

He didn't have much time to think about it, because the tent flap opened and light poured in, silhouetting the person(s) who had entered. Zuko squinted at the brightness. At least now he knew more than half a day had gone by.

"The traitor awakens," said one of the people, stepping closer to him.

"Azula," he said, seething. Behind her stood the two who never left her side, the acrobatic Ty Lee, and Mai, who was busy looking at the ground. Behind _them _stood two fire nation soldiers.

"We were beginning to think you'd never wake up," she said, amused. She looked back at Mai, "Next time, don't hit him quite so hard, even if you really want to."

Mai said nothing.

"Anyway...down to business, dear Zuzu," she said, grabbing his chin and yanking it up so he'd be forced to look her in the eyes. "Your new 'friends' are quite slippery. I think I can at least appreciate all the time you spent trying to catch the Avatar, now."

Zuko stayed silent, glaring at his sister with such vehemence that she'd be dead if looks could kill. Azula stood up straight, looking down her nose at him. What a pitiful sight he must be, dirty and kneeling in front of her. He didn't care. She'd just revealed to him that Aang and the others had escaped — they were safe, away from here.

"I'm sure you're aware by now, Zuko, that father wants you dead. You're a wanted criminal," she smirked, eyes lighting up, "However, I have the power to make him revoke your warrant — if you tell me what I want to know,"

As an answer, Zuko spat on her shoes. Azula slapped him.

"Why do you enjoy doing things the hard way?" she fumed, but quickly regained her dangerous composure. "When it comes to hunting the avatar, Zuko, I've got a much bigger advantage than you ever had." She snapped her fingers and the guards stepped forward.

No...it couldn't be! _Sokka!_

Carried forward – he used the term loosely, as the guards were keeping Sokka upright by a rather rough hold on the boy's wrists – was the tribesman, every inch of him bruised and bloodied, as if he'd fought for his life. It was all Zuko could do not to cry out, to give any sign that he knew Sokka. That would just make things worse.

"Still feel like refusing?" Azula said, staring at him.

"Only you would be stupid enough to think that was an advantage," he growled. "That _peasant _means nothing to me."

Then Azula did something frightening. She started laughing. Full-on, clutching her stomach, tears in her eyes, laughing. Zuko stared. When she got it out of her system, she sighed deeply and wiped at her eyes.

"Ahh...I apologize, Zuko. It's just that, you're so very bad at lying," she said, "Or, at the very least, you need to learn to collaborate better with your teammates."

Oh no. What had Sokka said to them?

"It was sooo romantic, Zuko!" Ty Lee pipes up from behind Azula, as if reading his thoughts.

"She's right. I was touched," Azula comments sardonically. "When the rest of your so-called friends turned tail and ran, he stayed behind. Hopeless fool. Ty Lee, what was it he said again?"

Ty Lee drew herself up straight and stuck he chest out in what Zuko supposed was an imitation of Sokka.

"He was all, 'Where's Zuko?' and we were all like, 'As if we'd tell you!' and then he was all like, 'If you've hurt him, I swear I'll—"

"That's enough!" Mai said, raising her voice just a decibel higher than normal. Ty Lee stopped abruptly. Azula smirked down at her two friends, then turned her attention back to Zuko.

"Zuko," she said, her voice poisonously sweet, "You see why it's pointless to lie? Now, how does this sound? Tell me where the Avatar is, and I won't kill your loverboy. I'm being very generous here."

Azula's deals just got worse and worse sounding. He glared at her, saying nothing.

"You drive a hard bargain, brother mine. How about: You do what I want, and I won't kill _you_."

Out of the corner of his good eye, Zuko could see Sokka stirring. The next few moments all happened very quickly.

Despite his injuries, Sokka managed to wrest himself free from the fire nation soldiers, and the others, concentrating almost entirely on himself, failed to notice when he charged towards Azula. Unfortunately, his hands were still tied behind his back and so he only managed to startle Azula by headbutting her as hard as he could in the middle of her back. She whirled around to face her inventive attacker, and Zuko took that moment to stand (something of a difficulty, as his hands were bound as well) and help. In the next moment, Ty Lee was next to him.

"Sorry, Zuko," she said sweetly before knocking him to the ground. As Zuko's head spun and his vision faded, he had a single thought.

He was _really _getting sick of losing consciousness.

* * *

Sokka was currently in what some people might refer to as a precarious situation.

Sokka called it _freakin' scary_.

He was suspended, tied around the waist with his hands behind his back, from a length of rope that was attached to what Sokka assumed was a tree branch. He couldn't be certain, because the rope stretched upwards on and on, disappearing into the forest fog before he could tell what it was tied to. Looking downwards presented a similar situation – the ground was not visible. And on either side of him, only the faintest, vaguest outlines of trees could be made out, clearly some distance away.

The only thing he _could _see, in fact, was the confusing boy responsible for getting him into this situation in the first place. Zuko was tied up in a similar fashion to himself, unconscious. Sokka thought about shouting to wake him up, but wondered what good it would do.

Zuko...

Sokka looked at the scarred firebender, wondering what on earth had possessed him to turn back, to try and fight the deadly trio of fire nation girls even though he had a clear chance at escape. Well, look where it had gotten him.

A small noise from the body next to him interrupted his reverie. Zuko was beginning to wake, his eyes fluttering open. He raised his head in confusion, taking in his unusual surroundings.

Sokka expect at least a _little _freakout. He'd had one, and he'd been conscious during the process of tying them both up. He could only imagine what waking up in a place like this was like.

But Zuko merely looked around, spotted Sokka, and asked,

"Where's the others?" Sokka drew back, bewildered.

"They're—they're fine. They got away," he stammered, "Are _you _okay, though? You've been gone since yesterday night,"

"Oh," said Zuko, "I'm okay. You?"

"I've been better," Sokka replied, glad to have been asked. Zuko looked down.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know. They tied us up here who knows how long ago," he saw Zuko looking around purposefully and recognized that he was doing the exact same thing he'd been doing before – looking for a way out.

"These ropes would be easy to burn off," Zuko said, struggling against his bonds.

"Just try it, Zuko," Azula's voice rang out from above. She dove down, riding on the back of a fearsome-looking eaglesnake, "You'll fall to your death."

She halted in the air level with them, each flap of the eaglesnake's wings creating a gust of wind in their face.

"Now, you two sit there like good boys and wait for me to return. I'm a bit busy right now, but I'll kill you when I get back." Then she flew away, disappearing in the distance.

"Oh no...Aang. She's going after Aang," Sokka said, despairing.

"She won't find him," Zuko said, distractedly. It looked like he was trying to kick his shoe off.

"Ho, and where did this confidence come from suddenly? What happened to 'she can't be stopped' and all of that?"

Zuko didn't reply; he had managed to work his shoe off, and he kicked it away, sending it falling down into the fog. It disappeared in a matter of seconds, and the two waited expectantly for the sound of it hitting the bottom.

The sound came, but after a pause so long that Sokka's heart fell. The noise was so quiet, too.

"I guess she really did tie us to the highest branch of the tallest tree," Sokka said, hanging his head in despair. Zuko, again, wasn't listening. He was looking down at the place where the shoe fell, deep in concentration. Sokka became a little worried.

"...Zuko?" he ventured. Suddenly Zuko turned his head towards Sokka.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, eyes shining bright with an unidentifiable emotion.

"I've said so many times," Sokka replied quietly, unsure about Zuko's change in demeanor.

"Then, I need you to trust me now," he said fervently. "Promise me you will."

"O-okay, I will," he said, now thoroughly freaked out.

"I'll come back for you," Zuko said, and before Sokka could work out what that statement was supposed to mean, there was a quick burst of flame and the rope suspending Zuko miles above the ground snapped. Sokka screamed.

_"ZUKO!!_"

He fell.

* * *

**Chapter 6 End**

* * *

Ooh, dramatic. Sorry to end it there! I'll try not to keep you all waiting to long to find out what happens next. And, if you could, please review and tell me your thoughts!


	7. Chapter 7

**a/n:** I apologize a thousand times over! I meant to have this chapter out WAY earlier, but...well, you know how that dreadful school/work combo can be. Also, I _may _have been distracted by those new Avatar episodes...cough. Which, despite the fact that they rendered this fic COMPLETELY AU, were delightful. And full of the Sokka/Zuko.

They also helped me, because one of the problems I was having in this chapter was explaining how Zuko's...escape worked. In a weird coincidence, Azula used a similar technique in episode 15, so if you're having trouble picturing it, just think of what she did.

Sorry for the longish note this time. Here's your new chapter.

* * *

Zuko heard the scream fade into quiet just as rapidly as the view of Sokka strung up in a tree faded into the fog, and then the only sensation around him was the whistling of the air as it whipped past him and the undistinguishable blur of the landscape as he fell.

"I'll definitely come back," he thought, hoping that it would reach the other boy, and then that was all the time he had for thinking, because with every second that passed the ground came a little bit closer. And he wasn't even sure if his plan would work.

Every young firebender had experimented with using their flames as a sort of rocket-propulsion, mostly using high-pressure firebending in short bursts to assist in leaping over tall objects. Zuko had used it on a number of occasions to sneak out of his room at night. But to control the rocket propulsion well over a longer period of time took a special kind of talent. Even more so to have any kind of precision or control in the direction of the flame. And it had never been attempted while hurtling toward a damp forest floor at great speed.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Shut out everything but the internal flame that ran through every vein in his body. Deep breaths. And then, he pushed everything he had towards the palms of his hand. Facing them downwards, he released the energy with an all-or-nothing blast. Rocket-spurs of flame came shooting out of the air just above his palms, and he grunted with the effort of controlling the fire into a dense stream. He was still falling, faster and faster toward the ground, and then — barely noticeable — his descent slowed. He still fell, though not as quickly.

_It's not enough_, he thought, even as his arms shook with the effort of bending and the fire licked at his hands. Then the image of Sokka came into his mind, and suddenly, he found energy where there had been none before. _Just a little more. _

He willed the fire to go further, he begged and pleaded for its help. The pressure coming off of his palms was intense, and even with his resistance to heat, he could feel the flame burning into the skin. Zuko grit his teeth and pushed it even further.

After what seemed like eternity but was really only a few seconds, his fall slowed and slowed and then, he was floating. He hadn't been able to reverse direction, but he had never expected to do that either. And without even realizing it (such concentration he'd had on the fire), his feet gently landed on the ground.

He looked at his hands. His palms were all but bleeding in the center, and the surrounding skin was raw and red. Experimentally, he tried flexing his hands, then winced. No time to worry about that, though. Sokka was still up there.

On the forest floor, there was far less evidence of the fire nation camp. It appeared that they'd strung up him and Sokka away from the base, but in the distance Zuko could make out the outline of the tents topped with red flags. Easily avoidable. He turned in the opposite direction and ran—

—straight into Mai.

"Yeeg!" he said through his teeth, before stumbling over and landing on his feet. He was worn out from the fall.

Mai said nothing, only stared at him. With as much grace as he could muster, considering his hands were still burned to the bone, he pulled himself up.

"Don't try to stop me," he said,

"Wasn't going to," she said softly, and the defensive retort Zuko had on his tongue died as his mind registered what she just said.

"It–what? But...Azula. She—"

Mai crossed her arms.

"It doesn't matter. Go ahead and leave. You're going to have to come back anyway."

"What? What makes you think I'd come back for _him_?" he tried to put venom in his words. He might still be able to fool her.

"For one thing," Mai said cooly, "I just said you'd come back. I didn't say _why_."

Zuko stiffened.

"Also, speaking as somebody who's an expert on the subject — you're _really _bad at hiding your emotions. I've always been able to read you like a book. You will come back for him, because you care about him more than you ever cared about me."

"Mai — I still care about you," he said falteringly, reaching out a hand to touch her. She slapped it away.

"Too late," she said, her voice a little shrill, "Anyway, just go. I promise you we'll take good care of your precious peasant while you're gone."

"Mai—"

"Leave!" she screamed hoarsely. He listened, and ran. Just before the camp was out of sight, he turned back around to see her, standing straight, shoulders hunched, with her head in her hands, and little strings of guilt plucked at his heart.

* * *

He stared down into the mist, which now looked more like an infinite void than anything else. Zuko had been sucked up into that void and he'd never return. Beside him, the charred end of the rope swayed from side to side, mocking him.

What had he meant, by saying those words? 'I'll come back for you?'

Zuko was strong, but he wasn't invincible. And he couldn't fly. Therefore, the probability that he was still alive was...close to zero.

Sokka liked to think he was a realistic sort of guy. But at the moment, he'd kill for a bit of optimism.

The white clouds swirled vaguely around the trees, changing form every second. Sokka's head swirled to look into it, but he couldn't look away, either. His traitorous mind kept replaying that moment when the rope snapped and Zuko's body disappeared.

Even through his grief, though, the immediate reality of his own situation began to sink in. The ropes cutting into his wrist and around his waist were really beginning to hurt, and each slight movement he made against them felt like dull blades against his skill. He hadn't any concept of how long he'd been up there.

It was when he was beginning to wish in desperation that he was a firebender just so he could kill himself that Azula returned.

She swooped down on her eaglesnake, her face contorted into an angry snarl. She stopped in front of Sokka and regarded him for a second, then snapped at one of her guards.

"Cut him down!" The man complied and sliced the rope cleanly in half. Sokka had the brief but terrifying experience of free-falling down before he landed with an uncomfortable thump on the back of the guard's eaglesnake. The creature's tail slithered up and hissed at him. He gulped.

* * *

Zuko hadn't been walking for five minutes when he came to a very important realization – he had _no idea _where Aang and the others had gone.

* * *

"My brother really is a fool, isn't he?" Azula said, speaking as if to herself while she paced back and forth inside the tent. Sokka glared up at her from his position of being tied up on the floor. "I told him what would happen if he cut the ropes." She shrugged and made a _tsk _noise.

Sokka scowled at her, but some part of him was rejoicing. Azula was here, alone, and in a horrible mood. All signs pointed to the others escaping successfully. Sure, Zuko was most likely dead, but there was a bright side! A dull pang echoed in his chest at the though. His head sagged, suddenly lacking the energy to be defiant towards Azula. She wasn't about to let him give up, though. She grabbed his chin and roughly pulled so that he was forced to look her in the eye.

Her eyes were the same color of amber that his were, yet he'd never seen a more different pair. Hers were cold and hinted at an endless capability for cruelty, and they held none of the fire and warmth of Zuko's—

"He's alive, you know. Not that it's good news for you," she said, smirking. She pushed Sokka's chin away. She stood back and watched his mind whirr and he processed what she had told him. He looked up, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, stupid," she snapped, "Why else would he willingly fall to his death unless he knew there would be somebody at the bottom to catch him?"

"Wha—"

"You've been _played_. Zuko never betrayed the fire nation. He was working for us the whole time."

"You—you're lying!" Sokka shouted reflexively. There was no way that was true. After everything he'd said—

"You only wish I was," Azula said smugly, "But facts are facts, and now he's using you to bring the Avatar right into my lap."

"That's not true. You don't know—"

"I don't know what Zuko's like, is that it? Of course not, I could never understand him the way you do. After all, how can the bonds of family and nationalism stand up to the friendships of a few days? It's absolutely absurd, but you're right. You know far more about the way Zuko's mind works than I do."

Her words were sarcastic and biting, but the small truth that lay within them stung at Sokka and he wilted. How well _did _he know Zuko? Just because the firebender had opened up to him for a few nights — he could have been lying the whole time —

_Trust me._

Sokka gasped as the voice played in his mind as solidly as if Zuko had been standing right next to him, whispering in his ear. He'd promised, hadn't he? With a renewed confidence, he raised his head up and stared straight at Azula.

"You're wrong," he said without doubt. Azula seemed unfazed by his change of attitude. She simply shrugged.

"Sure, whatever. He loves you, isn't that what you're going to say next? He loves you, so he'd never betray you?"

Sokka faltered.

"I never said that! You've got the wrong idea about that, too." He hadn't been thinking like that. Love wasn't a part of this. It was about trust. He'd put his life in Zuko's hands, he trusted in the boy. He didn't love him.

But maybe he'd grown to like him.

And maybe he'd gotten a little too scared at the thought of Zuko dying. And maybe the thought of the firebender betraying him was a little too painful to bear. But that was normal, they were friends, right? Sokka ignored the pounding in his chest.

"Get this straight, tribesman." Azula said, pointing a finger at Sokka, "Zuko doesn't care about you or anything else. The most important thing to Zuko will always be Zuko."

"You're wrong," Sokka repeated.

* * *

**End Chapter 7**

* * *

Either way, Aang's in trouble, isn't he? Again, so so so sorry for the wait. This part of the story is hard to write for me for some reason.


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n:** Aaaah! How long has it been since the last chapter? Nearly a month, right? Aah, I could die of embarrassment! I'm sorry everyone — again. But I've got a good reason this time. Well, several. I started summer school, for one thing, and it was my birthday, but the main reason is...my computer broke! ...well, I broke it, really. In what I'm calling "the great dairy accident of 2008"...my laptop died a tragic death. Yeah...I spilled milk on it. So I didn't have much internet access for all that time! I still don't, actually. I'm using my brother's computer to post this.

Also, I went back and looked at the previous chapters. I wrote most of them at one am or around that time and...it shows! So many stupid typos! So I want to apologize for that. After I finish this I'll go back and correct all of them. Anyway, enough rambling, on with chapter 8!

* * *

Zuko fought his way through the dense jungle foliage, brushing away thick, waxy ferns that were as big as he was. It felt like days, though he knew it couldn't have been that long. The sun hadn't set yet, though the dimming light signaled to him that he wouldn't have much longer to look for Aang and the others. He hadn't eaten or drank anything since yesterday. He hadn't stopped moving. He had no idea where to _look_. The task was starting to seem impossible.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!" He cried, throwing his hands in the air out of sheer frustration. "Stupid Avatar! Where are you?!"

"Uh, hi?" said a voice next to his ear. He yelped and jumped away from the noise. Aang waved at him. Then, they were joined by a third voice.

"Aang, get back here! Someone might _see _you," Katara parted the bushes, following Aang, but stopped short when she saw Zuko. "You!"

"Me?"

"How dare you—" she stopped and looked around. "Not here. Come on." She motioned for the boys to follow and disappeared back into the bushes.

The place she eventually led him to — in an extremely roundabout way, "to confuse the fire nation troops," as Aang explained — was a surprisingly well-hidden cavern. Zuko wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't known exactly what he was looking for.

"It's not visible from the outside unless you know it's there," Katara said as she found the entrance. They crawled inside. "Toph found it."

The interior was small and a little damp, but safe. Toph was already inside, sitting with Momo.

"Where's Appa?" Zuko asked. Aang waved his hand.

"Don't worry about him. We hid him pretty good. Besides, I still have this." He pulled out the bison whistle with a happy little flourish.

"Chit-chatting aside," Katara said, crossing her arms and staring Zuko down, "Where's Sokka? Why isn't he with you?"

"We were captured. I saw a chance to escape and I took it—"

"So you left him there? You really are on the fire nation's side, aren't you?"

"No!" Zuko yelled, "That's not true! Anyway, what about you? How could you leave your own brother to fight a squadron of fire nation soldiers?"

"We thought Sokka was with us when we escaped," Aang interrupted, "By the time we realized it and went back, the soldiers were already gone and he was nowhere to be found. And now we're looking for their hideout, and Sokka and you – but you're already here so that's one thing down." He finished brightly.

Zuko stared at the ground. It was worse knowing that Sokka tried to rescue him against the wishes of the others — what was he thinking? Why would he risk his life like that?

"So the fire nation still has Sokka?" Toph asked. Zuko nodded.

"I know where they're camped. I came looking for you first because...I can't rescue him on my own. I need all of your help."

"Okay!" Aang said, standing up. In the small space, even he had to duck his head a little. "Let's go get our boomerang guy back!"

"Wait," Zuko said, still looking at the dirt floor of the cave instead of meeting anyone's eyes, "It's a trap. Azula wants me to lead you there. She's going to use this chance to try and capture you, Aang."

"Aaargh!" The frustrated growl came from Katara, "You are making it so hard to trust you! You say you're on our side, then you say you're about to lead us straight into a trap? What is with you?!"

"I know it's a trap. And I know it'll put the Avatar right where they want him, but...I'm asking for your help anyway. I know it's too much for someone like me to ask. But please..."

He bowed his head further and closed his eyes. There was silence in the small space.

"I'm going if you help or not," He added. Again there was no immediate response. After a minute there was the sound of Katara shifting.

"He's my brother. So of course I want to help," She said grudgingly, as if admitting she agreed with Zuko was a horrible ordeal, "But it's still a big risk," Katara spoke slowly, as if her thoughts were forming as she spoke them. Zuko felt a sense of impending doom the more she talked.

"What I want to know, Zuko, is why _you _care so much. I'll trust you if you tell me the real reason why you're willing to risk your life to rescue my brother."

Ah, that explained the feelings of doom. Zuko raised his head a little to look at her, but found he could not hold her judgmental gaze.

"I–I...Sokka is a friend to me. I can't say I have many of those. If, if Azula were to do anything...if he were to be hurt, then..." Zuko stammered. He felt his face heat up as he avoid talking straightforwardly.

"Then...what?"

"Then...then...I don't know." he lied.

"Is Sokka just a friend to you?" Katara asked, but it was more like demanding. Zuko's heart was pounding in his chest. Why was he feeling so terrified?

"Don't...don't make me say to you what I haven't even told _him _yet." That was as close as he could get. Thankfully, Katara seemed satisfied with it.

"Right," she said, ignoring Aang's confused looks, "That settles it. Let's get going, everyone!"

Zuko used the palms of his hands to push himself off the ground — and froze. Now that he'd found who he was looking for, and he wasn't in any immediate danger, the pain from the burns came back to him tenfold. He cried out involuntarily, causing everyone to turn and look at him.

"What's wrong?" Toph said. Zuko stared at the burns on his hands. Aang saw them and inhaled sharply, sympathizing.

"When I tried to escape, this happened...I didn't have time to worry about them before."

"I guess we could wrap them up or something...can't you use your hands at all?"

"It hurts," Zuko admitted, much less embarrassed at showing weakness now then he would have been months ago, "and I haven't tried firebending yet."

"That's a problem..." Aang said, and trailed off, at a loss. He was bumped aside by Katara. "Katara? What are you—?"

She grabbed Zuko's hands roughly and clasped them in her own. Zuko looked at her, bewildered. The glare she sent his way could kill armies.

"Don't you dare get any ideas. I don't like you," she said with finality. "I'm doing this for Sokka."

She closed her eyes. With one hand, she bended the water out of her flask to envelop both of their hands. Again, Zuko felt the cool blue glow on his skin. Unlike this time, Zuko felt it hover, and then somehow sink into him without moving at all. He glanced up at Katara.

She seemed to be concentrating intensely, and her lips were moving. She was chanting under her breath, but he could hear her.

"This is for Sokka. This is for Sokka. This is for Sokka," over and over again, like a mantra. Zuko kept as still as possible and let her work. After a while, she opened her eyes and let go of his hands. He pulled them close and examined them.

"They've already started scarring, so I can't heal it completely." she said with her nose in the air. The snotty tone was at odds with the concerning words.

"Thank you," Zuko said, still a little surprised. The center of both his palms was still pink-tinged, but the pain was gone.

"I only did it—"

"For Sokka, I know. Thank you." he smiled. She looked away.

"Anyway! We've wasted enough time. Let's go save my idiot brother."

* * *

Sokka was tired. He was hungry. And the manacles keeping his hands bound behind his back were really beginning to itch. But all things considered, it was an improvement over the whole dangling-in-the-air thing. Although the downside was that now, inside his cell (really, just an iron cage in the middle of Azula's tent), he had far too much time to think. When you're suspended a kajillion feet in the air by a thin line of rope, your head is pretty much occupied only with thoughts of how long it would take to die if said rope broke. Now, though...

He looked around at the tent, decked out with fire nation pride, and had the unfortunate leisure to mull over Azula's words. She was lying, he was sure of it. Mostly. Almost sure. Yet, that sliver of doubt was beginning to itch more than the manacles.

Sokka prided himself on his ability to judge a person's character — there was no way he could have misjudged Zuko's so badly. Or could he have?

_'You're the one who's being too trusting...'_

Zuko had said that to him, hadn't he? Just how well _did _he know the firebender? That question had been circling his mind like an annoying insect ever since Azula had locked him up here.

Okay, Sokka. Take a deep breath. Solve this problem the way you solve all your problems, with logic and reason. Be scientific. Clear your mind.

Sokka closed his eyes, and thought.

Fact one: Until recently, Zuko had been one of the biggest threats to their mission's success. Sokka still remembered their earliest encounters with the prince; the driven, almost haunted look in Zuko's eyes then was hard to forget. How could a person give up a passion like that so easily? He said he'd changed, he'd acted like he'd changed, but...there wasn't any proof.

Fact two: The firebender had been acting very strange lately. Almost as if he was hiding something. Sokka had ignored it, mostly, having problems of his own to deal with, but what if Zuko was acting suspicious because he was a spy? What if the last few days _were _all an act?

Fact three: ...There it was again. The dull, somehow welcome pain in his chest that acted up whenever he was around Zuko. He'd been feeling it more and more frequently lately, and it had been making him act irrationally. And it was the reason that despite all of his suspicions, despite Azula's claims, he could only trust Zuko.

He hoped he wasn't making a big mistake.

* * *

End Chapter 8

* * *

Ahhh! Sorry, it got a little introspective stream-of-consciousness style at the end there. I didn't mean to do that.

Okay, there's not many chapters left (it's already gone on longer than I thought it would) so I have a question for all you readers. This story can go two ways: One, it ends where I originally planned to end it, which would be in one or two chapters. TWO, it goes on longer! See, when I was watching the new episodes, I thought that I'd like to continue this story on and include them. So, if you choose option two, this story would continue and include the events of the two newest episodes. I've got a small idea to make it work. The bad news is that it would delay the slash even further...Sokka and Zuko are very stubborn when it comes to matters of love, it seems. Anyway...I've rambled again...so, please review and tell me your opinion!


	9. Chapter 9

**UNNECESSARILY LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE. FEEL FREE TO SKIP DOWN.**

Okay….so it's been, what, 6 months? I sincerely apologize for the unexpected hiatus. Sometimes things just get in the way, and before you know it, six months have passed by!

Anyway, this chapter may be a bit weird and disjointed, because I wrote half of it in august and the other half last week, and also because I'm trying to get back into the groove of writing this story but I still think it reads kinda weird. Looking back on the earlier chapters makes me want to cringe…this whole fic is disjointed, actually, and I'm losing the thread of it so I really feel that I just want to wrap it up in the next few chapters, cut my losses, and start fresh with some new Sokka/Zuko fic that I've had floating in my brain for a while. How does that sound?

Again I apologize to all those who were reading and waiting for an update.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE OVER! STORY RESUMES BELOW.**

* * *

Being princess (and currently, the only recognized heir) of the fire nation, it was only natural that Azula had the best of everything. The best clothes, the best food, the best friends, the best guards…in theory. And Zuko _knew _that she handpicked the soldiers that she took with her on missions, so he couldn't for the life of him figure out why this particular guard, who was standing no more than thirty feet away, had not yet noticed the Avatar and his friends standing _right there._

"Get down!" he hissed from his position of safety in the brush. "He'll see you!"

"I dunno," Aang said without moving. "I think he might be asleep. Standing up."

"Who goes there?!" The guard shouted at that moment, turning around. They hid just in time.

"How come there's only one guy?" Toph whispered.

"Because, like I said earlier, they're expecting us. They want to make it easy for us to break in. Not to get out."

"So, what's the plan, then?" Katara asked, looking at Zuko.

"I…don't know. I hadn't thought that far."

"Sokka always was the plan guy," she said, sighing deeply and leaning against the bushes.

"Is," Toph corrected off-handedly, "_Is_ the plan guy."

"Right. Well, I was just going to go in there and, you know, demand him back, fight everyone off with my fire bending, and then we could leave," Zuko said. Aang was silent, deep in thought.

"I see no problems with this plan." he said.

"Of course there's a problem!" Katara all but screeched. She was promptly shushed by three different people. In a quieter voice, she continued. "Okay. Let's think about this. With _logic_. Like Sokka would."

"Why do you keep talking about him like he's dead?" Toph said incredulously.

"Aang, you're Azula's number one priority right now. Zuko, she knows you're coming back for Sokka. So…what we do is…um…"

She trailed off, and the four of them sat huddled in silence, staring at the dirt beneath their feet.

"Aagh! Enough planning around!" Toph burst out suddenly, "Twinkletoes, you and me will take out that guard and storm the compound. We won't give them time to think, just attack straight out, and then you two --" she pointed a finger at Katara and Zuko, "--will use it as a distraction to sneak past. Get Sokka, get out. Then the three of you can help us, and we'll fight our way out."

"And if we run into Azula?" Katara asked.

"Then, kick her ass."

There was a pause while everyone considered Toph's words.

"Okay, let's do it," Katara said finally with a shrug of her shoulders.

"That was exactly the same as my plan!" Zuko protested as everyone made to stand.

"Yeah," Katara said with a smirk, "But it sounded better coming out of her mouth."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Mai said under her breath, standing outside Azula's tent. Unlike the guard posted at the entrance to camp, she saw the Avatar -- and Zuko -- approach from miles away from her perch.

"Doing what?" A chipper voice said to her right. Mai started, but made no outward sign of surprise.

"Ah, Ty Lee."

"Who are you talking to?" The pink-clad girl asked with a grin.

"Nn…nobody."

"Oh…hey!" Ty Lee's face lit up as if she'd just had a major thought. "Earlier, why'd you let Zuko escape? I thought that he was with the other guys now---" Mai had her friend in a chokehold faster than the other girl could blink (although, she knew, Ty Lee could have avoided if she wanted to). After that knee-jerk reaction, she released her, opting to merely cover Ty Lee's mouth.

"Keep it down," she said in a low voice. Ty Lee nodded. Mai let go.

"So….why?"

"I…I'm stupid, that's why. Even if he's our enemy, even if he's got somebody else, I still wanted to help him. I'm just really, really stupid."

Ty Lee smiled. She put a hand on Mai's shoulder.

"That's not stupidity, Mai. That's love. And it's _sooo_ cute!"

Any wisdom that Ty Lee's words might have had were lost amongst her fawning. Mai smacked her hand away.

"Only you would call my suffering and moral dilemmas _cute_," she said. Her face softened to a smile and she added, "Thanks."

"What are friends for?"

"Anyway, whatever you saw before…you didn't see. And, whatever you might see in the very near future regarding Zuko and the Avatar…you didn't see either. Understand?"

"I understand perfectly," Ty Lee said without skipping a beat. Her eyes were clear and wide. "I didn't see it."

"Didn't see what?" A harsh and commanding voice entered into the conversation.

"Azula!" both girls said, surprised by her sudden approach. Mai was the first to recover.

"The Avatar was spotted with his bison flying towards the north side of camp. Ty Lee wasn't paying attention."

"Hm," was all Azula said. She stared hard at Mai, who did her best to return the princess's narrow-eyed glare. Azula turned away.

"If they saw him from the north side, then we'll wait for them on the south side."

"Whaaat? Why do that?" Ty Lee asked innocently.

"Because it's probably a trick," Azula snapped, "Ty Lee, you come with me. Mai, wait on the north side just in case there is anyone there."

And with that she walked away. Ty Lee bounced behind her, turning back to shrug her shoulders at Mai with a confused look. Mai waited until they were out of sight, then couldn't hold back a tiny smile.

Now, all that was left to wait at the north side of camp for nobody.

* * *

Breaking into the camp was as easy as they thought it would be. Aang rushed in first, Aang creating a huge cloud of dust using airbending followed by Toph bending the ground to kick the guards into the air.

As soon as they saw their chance, Katara and Zuko made a run for it. He could guess, easily, that Sokka was being held in Azula's tent, or close to it. He motioned for Katara to follow him, and as they ran the sounds of fighting grew farther away.

It seemed that the distraction worked, for they were not followed. Soon, Azula's lavish tent came into view.

* * *

Unfortunately for Azula, the guard tower where Aang and the others had decided to break in at was located at neither the north or south extremes of camp.

"Your highness!" A guard came running up to them, out of breath and sporting a black eye, "By the---by the----tower---"

"Out with it!" Azula snapped, grabbing the man by the collar.

"Th-the avatar!" The poor guard cried.

"_What?_!" She snarled, seeing red. Pushing him to the ground, Azula stomped off towards the commotion.

What, exactly, was going on here? She had been given misleading information. Was it Mai's fault, or had she gotten it from one of the inept footmen? Either way, after this was over, Azula would personally see to the punishment of whoever was responsible for the reason she was over _here _and not where the avatar was.

She stopped in her tracks at the sight of her brother and the water tribe girl.

* * *

"Azula," Zuko said, frozen to the spot with his hand reaching out for the tent flap.

"Zuko," Azula returned the excuse for a greeting, turning on her heel to walk towards them, "I knew you'd be stupid enough to come back. And look where it's gotten you."

Zuko was shaking inside. He knew she'd be here, he knew he'd have to face her sooner or later --- but now, it couldn't be now. He wasn't ready, and Sokka…Sokka needed him. But if he had to fight her to get to him, then so be it. He eased himself into a fighting stance, determined to win.

"Wait," Katara cut in. Azula shifted her focus to face the girl.

"Oh, would you rather be the first to go? It makes no difference to me. Either way it will take hardly any time at all."

"No, I was just thinking, every minute you're here with us is just another minute that the avatar has to escape from you. _Again_. Somehow I don't think daddy would be too pleased about that."

Azula stared hard at Katara, eyes focused narrowly on her. She seemed to be thinking, but did not move an inch from her aggressive stance.

"You." She spat out, "You're trying to trick me. You _want _me to go after the avatar."

Katara crossed her arms.

"Oh, no. I'd love to kick your ass right here, right now. I'm just saying. Us, or the avatar. Who's more important?"

There was a moment of tense silence. Zuko looked back and forth between the two women, from Azula looking like a caged lion-viper ready to strike, to Katara, who stood looking smug. Zuko couldn't even tell if she was bluffing or not.

Finally, Azula cursed and stood up straight.

"This is _not _over. You will _not _escape me." She pointed a finger at Zuko, then turned and ran towards where Aang and Toph were doing a wonderful job tearing up the camp.

Zuko and Katara watched her go. When she was out of sight, Katara sank to her knees like her bones had suddenly been turned to jelly.

"Thank goodness. If she hadn't taken the bait, I don't know what we would have done." Zuko twitched.

He had no time to waste. Without further thought, he went inside the tent. Katara was close behind.

* * *

If Sokka was going to be completely honest with himself, then he would have to admit that the time between sitting tied up in Azula's quarters and waking up back safe and sound in the air temple (the very one they had fled from not days before) was little more than a blur to him.

Oh, there were bits and pieces that were clear. He remembered noises, loud explosions and Zuko's voice nearby – but before he had been able to process any of it, here he was, safe and sound. He yawned, and the bruised wrists and the slight twinge in his ribs were the only things that kept him from feeling like he'd woken up from a relaxing nap rather than from being chained up for days. And then his stomach growled, and Sokka forgot about everything else.

Next to him, Zuko was sleeping, and the others were scattered around as well. They all looked a bit worse for the wear, and belatedly Sokka noticed he had on a fresh change of clothes. A mumble from the brought his attention back down. He smiled. Zuko was sleep talking but it didn't seem like he was troubled. His face was relaxed and he was curled up on the bag in a little ball, hands folded under his neck. It looked so cute that Sokka almost felt bad for waking him up. Almost.

"Hey, Zuko." No response.

"Hey." Poke, poke. "Hey, Zuko, wake up."

He rose his voice to a normal level.

"Zuko, wake up. Come on." Another prod to Zuko's cheek. "Heeeey."

A pale hand came up to swat Sokka away.

"I'm awake, jeez. What do you want?" Zuko mumbled grumpily.

"I'm hungry."

Zuko stared at him.

"So get some food," he said, and then the sleep-deprived boy turned around to try and fall asleep again. Sokka wasn't having it.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Listen."

"WHAT."

"I want _you_ to get me food."

Zuko scoffed. "Why would I do that?" he mumbled in a voice still thick with sleep.

"Cause you _loooove_ me," Sokka said jokingly, but Zuko's eyes shot wide open and he stared at Sokka like a deer caught under bright lights, so Sokka quickly continued, "And cause I've been through an _ordeal_ and as my rescuer you have an obligation to make sure I return to full health."

Awake now, Zuko sat up and gave Sokka a tiny smirk. "Oh? And being unconscious for most of it, how can you be so sure I was the one who rescued you?"

"Because you said you would."

Zuko stilled.

"I did, didn't I."

Sokka looked down in his lap and twiddled his thumbs. The atmosphere of their easygoing camaraderie had changed somehow, and he wasn't able to place exactly what it was. When he glanced at Zuko a tension that had not existed before made itself known.

Then Zuko coughed into his hand and stood up.

"I'll be right back, then."

When he returned, with the sun beginning to peek over the horizon at last, it was with a bowl full of steaming wild rice mixed with egg, which was not the gruel Sokka had been expecting to receive. He set it down in front of Sokka, who stared at it then at Zuko.

"What?" said the firebender, put at unease by Sokka's silence.

"Feed me."

"You're joking."

"Nope," said Sokka, who was smiling. "I told you, I'm injured and I need assistance. So feed me." He opened his mouth wide.

"You're a baby, that's what you are," Zuko grumbled, but he was smiling too and without protest he picked up the bowl and scooted closer to Sokka. He picked up a clump of rice with the chopsticks and held it in front of Sokka's face. "Here comes the flying bison. Nyerrr, nyerrr."

Instead of eating the rice Sokka snorted in laughter, causing the little grains to go flying.

"Hey!" Zuko said. Nearby Katara stirred and both boys ducked their heads as if that would prevent them from being seen. He spoke again in a lowered voice, "Why did you do that?"

"What was that noise you just made?" Sokka whispered back, still holding in giggles, "You sounded _ridiculous_."

"That was the noise that Appa makes," Zuko replied, looking a bit put-out.

"I don't want to imagine I'm eating Appa, that's weird."

"I bet you'd eat him if you could."  
"Never! Well, maybe if we were trapped in a cave with no food or chance of rescue, then yeah, I think Appa would be the first to go---"

Katara stirred again – always the light sleeper – and they glanced over at her before turning back to each other. Zuko held up another mouthful and leaned in closer to avoid making too much noise.

"Okay, if I promise not to make the noise anymore you have to promise not to spew rice everywhere."

"It's a deal," Sokka said, also leaning forward, to take the rice off the chopsticks. Zuko watched intently as Sokka wrapped his lips around the lacquered sticks, tongue darting out in order to capture every last grain of rice. Zuko swallowed, throat suddenly dry.

"Do I have something on my face?" Sokka asked, and Zuko snapped out of his daze. The bowl was half empty – how had that happened?

"No." Zuko flushed.

"You were staring."

"No I wasn't." Outright denial always worked.

"Yes, you were. I could feel you."

"I, I---Sokka," he stammered.

"Zuko," the water tribe boy said at the same time. They both laughed nervously, but any attempted at further conversation was destroyed by the awkwardness. An unbearably long stretch of silence passed by, broken when another voice rang out, exasperated.

"Sooooo….you guys done being all lovey-dovey? Can I stop pretending to sleep now?"

Sokka turned white as a sheet and Zuko groaned and put his head in his hands.

"T-toph!" Sokka started, and Katara was finally waking up as well. And then as if on cue, Aang woke up in that abruptly quick manner of his and the dream of the morning was shattered, and their situation regarding the fire nation and Azula and the war and everything came rushing back.

* * *

**End Chapter 9**

* * *

P.S. unrelated: Jesse McCartney slated to play Zuko in the 2010 live-action Avatar movie!!! I'm probably the only person who's excited by this. My secret, shameful love of Jesse McCartney runs deep. Well, it's not such a secret anymore now that I've told you all. Okay. Fic related: Next chapter is anticipated to be the last. I PROMISE I will not let another 6 months slip by!


	10. Chapter 10

Okay. So here we are. Final chapter! And with this, we segue almost seamlessly into the Boiling Rock episodes. Almost. Certain things here don't fit into the timeline (and it will be obvious what they are ), so just consider it AU. And the conversation Sokka and Zuko have at the beginning of Boiling Rock part 1 is here too, but not the exact dialogue. It's been changed slightly to fit the story.

I don't want to put any author's notes at the end, so I'm going to say now that eventually I will edit this fic for typos, grammatical errors, boring writing, etc. And also that I do have a few more fics cooking up there, some avatar, some not, so be on the lookout. They'll also be posted to my LJ (link on my profile).

Anyway… I want to thank all my reviewers, readers, anyone who took the time out of their life to give this silly, meandering, fanfic a chance. It really means a lot to me, so thank you so much!

* * *

"Okay," Sokka said, rubbing his temple, "One more time. _Why_ are we back at the air temple?"

"Er, actually, Sokka, that was your idea," Aang spoke up, "You were pretty much unconscious the whole time, but when were deciding what to do next you suddenly woke up and told us to come back here. Since, Azula wouldn't think to look for us in a place she already…looked for us, or something like that…" he trailed off, thinking hard, and then smiled brightly. "No, no, that _does_ make sense. Thanks, Sokka. You have good ideas."

"Um. You're welcome," Sokka said, deciding to be proud of this, "So. Second question. _How_ did we manage to get out of all that?"

"We couldn't have done it without Mai's help," Zuko said softly. Even though things had ended badly between them, he was still somewhere proud of Mai's decision. He knew he had liked her for a reason.

"Who?" was Sokka's only response, accompanied by a blank stare.

"Mai." Zuko repeated.

"Your who?"

"She's my – _was_ my girlfriend."

"_Who_ was your girlfriend?"

"Mai was."

"Yeah, yours, but what was her name?"

Zuko smacked himself on the forehead. Sokka, Sokka, Sokka. Zuko might want to strangle him if he didn't like the guy so much.

"Mai," Katara cut in, "Mai was her name. Tall, pale, scary girl? Liked knives? Remember?"

"Voice like sandpaper?" Toph helped.

"Personality like a zombie?" Aang added.

"Guys…" Zuko pleaded.

"OH! _Mai!_ Yeah, I remember now. Wasn't she Azula's lackey or something? I distinctly remember her trying to kill me the last time we met."

Under less frustrated circumstances, Zuko might have joked, 'Oh, don't worry, she does that to everyone she likes' but the situation being what it was, he just sighed deeply and tried not to lose his temper.

"Do you not remember," he ground out each word slowly, as if trying to convey a complicated idea to the village idiot (a title which Sokka occasionally picked up), "me saying, just a moment ago, that she _helped_ us?"

"Um," Sokka said, clearly unsure of what the correct reaction was supposed to be, "I may have… Yes, yes, it's all coming back to me now. Okay, but that still doesn't explain why I'm here and in one healthy piece instead of a Sokka-skewer, barbeque style, back over _there_."

"She tricked Azula and distracted her so that we were able to escape." Toph supplied. "I didn't actually see her, but Zuko and Katara did. So there you go."

"So she's like Zuko," Aang said, looking very solemn, "She betrayed Azula to help us, so she's basically a traitor to the fire nation,"

"Not exactly like me," Zuko interrupted, "Azula doesn't know that Mai is the one who supplied her with the wrong information. It could have been anybody she spoken to. So, as long as she doesn't figure that out, the worst that can happen to Mai is that she loses a little of Azula's trust. But she'll be fine."

Meanwhile, Sokka (now that the danger was past and the remaining mysteries had been solved) was turning over one sentence in his head.

_Mai was my girlfriend._

He pictured Mai in his head. Dark, broody, quiet. Lethal. She was probably an ideal match for Zuko. He could see them, walking along together in some garden, talking about how much angst they had in their lives. Or, more probably, not talking at all. It was sickeningly perfect.

And Sokka couldn't figure out why that bothered him so much.

But wait – he said _was_. As in past tense. So that meant Zuko didn't care for her anymore? But that couldn't be true, it was obvious in the way Zuko sounded when he talked about her. But maybe he just respected her, it was possible to respect a girl without being attracted to her and god _damn_ it all why did he care about this, anyway?

He had Suki and Yue and enough problems with romance in his life that there was no reason to go and add more trouble to the mix, and it didn't matter if Zuko was the first person in a long time to be on Sokka's level, and it didn't matter if he couldn't – and didn't want to – remember (a week ago) what it was like before he was there, and it didn't _matter_ if the sight of Zuko smiling made him feel all happy for no reason and –

"—next, plan guy?"

"Buh what?"

"I said, 'what's next, plan guy?' Or are you still recuperating from your _ordeal_?" Zuko joked, smiling lightly at Sokka. Sokka's brain melted.

"I'm fine!" He declared perhaps a bit too loudly. There was a pause as Sokka thought. Then, he took a deep breath and stuck out his chest in what he felt was a commanding manner. "Well, first off, my idea to return to the air temple as a means of escaping Azula was _brilliant_, even if I don't remember coming up with it, but --," and here he paused again, this time for effect.

"But?"

"BUT! We should only think of it as a temporary solution. It'll throw off Azula, but not for very long. Once she realizes we're not in any of the places we should be, she'll start looking in the places we already were. Namely, here. So we should recoup, rest our heels for only a bit, and move on to…wherever it is we need to be going."

"What about dad? And everyone else that went missing during the invasion?" Katara asked.

"I haven't forgotten about them," Sokka admitted, deflating a little, "I just…haven't figured out what to do about that. Anyway, our main priority is not to get captured – and by that I mean Aang -- right now. Otherwise everyone's efforts will be for nothing." He finished neatly, but the frown on his face said that it wasn't an answer he was really satisfied with.

"Sokka, it's our _father_. How can we possibly just sit here and—"

"I know!" Sokka barked, but his next words were spoken quietly, "I know, how could I not? It was all because of me that the whole thing went wrong in the first place. If anyone should have been captured by the fire nation, it should have been me."

"Uh, you _were_ captured." Toph helpfully reminded.

"Yeah, but I got away! That's hardly fair, now is it?" Sokka shot back, their conversation taking on a silly turn despite the serious subject being discussed.

"Well." Toph said with finality, crossing her arms over her chest, "Your dad didn't have a boyfriend willing to 'storm the castle' to rescue him, now did he, princess?"

"He---buhwhat?" Sokka's rebuttal died mid-air.

"Boyfriend?" Aang asked, then after a moment's consideration, added, "…No, Suki was a girl, I'm sure of it. But then Sokka looks better in the dress, so does that make her the man? Wait, no, I'm confusing myself again. If Sokka's the boy, but Suki's the man, then the girl is—"

"Don't lose any sleep over it, twinkletoes, the answer's right in front of you," Toph said with a laugh, slapping Aang on the back. Zuko coughed awkwardly into his fist.

"You know what sounds good right now?" He asked generally, "Tea. I'm going to go make some."

"Zuko, wait!" Sokka blurted, but the firebender had already beat a hasty retreat.

"Zuko knows how to make tea?" Aang said, bouncing up and down where he sat.

"He does, when he's trying to avoid participating in certain conversations," Katara said, leering smugly at Sokka. Sokka looked down at his hands and blushed. Toph turned her head in the direction that Zuko had exited from.

"Huh. Must run in the family."

* * *

As it turned out, Zuko actually did know how to make tea, as the group discovered when he returned to them balancing a tray full of cups of the steaming hot beverage.

As it also turned out, Zuko's impersonation gags were probably the only thing worse than his puns. But that was easily dismissed because lucky for Zuko, his uncle wasn't the only one who knew how to make decent tea.

"Mm, hey, this is actually pretty good," Aang said between sips.

"I know!" Katara blinked, peering down at her own cup as if it were about to grow fangs and bite her, "I'm…surprised."

"Um, thanks?" Zuko said sheepishly, not sure how to deal with the obvious backhanded compliments. Everyone laughed. Except for Sokka, that is, who sat away from the others, practically hunched in a corner. There was something weighing heavy on his mind, that much was clear, and it was a little painful to see himself, that troubled version of himself from just a few weeks ago, reflected in his friend.

He walked over. Sokka didn't even look up until Zuko's shadow fell across his eyes.

"Tea?" Zuko offered, holding out the cup. Sokka absentmindedly took it from him and held it close. "What's on your mind?"

"Hn," Sokka grunted noncommittally.

"You know," the other boy said, setting the tray aside and sitting next to Sokka, "I used to have trouble sleeping. I got really bad nightmares…the kind where you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, afraid to go back to bed."

Sokka looked curiously over at Zuko.

"And that happened all my life, until one day I became friends with this guy. We didn't get along at first – ha, that's an understatement – but, once I got to know him better I realized he was smart, funny…kind. He's really great, actually. You would probably like him."

Sokka raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"And he listened to me. To my problems. And it wasn't like with other people. For the first time, I felt like there was someone out there who was really listening and who _really_ understood me. And…the nightmares stopped. Just like that." Zuko smiled at Sokka, "If I ever got the chance, I'd like to return the favor."

There was no response right away but he could see Sokka trying to work something out in his head. When he finally did speak, his words came out tangled up in a jumble, as if he hadn't finished deciding what to say.

"Zuko, hnn – actually, I do. Need to talk." He looked over at Toph, Aang, and his sister, "With you. In private."

"O-okay," Zuko blushed as Sokka took him by the wrist and dragged him further in the temple – far enough to be out of sight, and hopefully sound, of the others.

* * *

"It's about my dad," Sokka said once they were alone. Zuko and his over-active imagination were slightly disappointed.

"Um, what about your dad?"

"As you might have guessed, he was…captured by the fire nation during the eclipse," he said. Zuko nodded in recognition. But hadn't they already gone over this, earlier today? Sokka himself had decided that nothing could be done about it at the present time.

"I need to know where they might have taken him," he said seriously.

"What?" Zuko said loudly, taken aback, "Sokka, I can't tell you that—"

"Why not? Zuko, _please_. It's my dad." Very clever, Sokka. Make your sister think you've given up then turn right around and do the opposite.

"Even if you knew, it wouldn't do any good."

"Zuko," Sokka pleaded, looking up at the firebender with his clear, blue eyes, and Zuko had already lost.

"Probably…he was taken to Boiling Rock," he said, and before Sokka could question further, he added, "It's a prison in the middle of a lake of boiling water, in a volcano, in the middle of the ocean. Completely inescapable."

"Oh, really. And where is it, speaking exactly?" There was a glint in Sokka's eyes that Zuko took to mean he could expect trouble soon.

"You passed it on your way here, actually. It's midway between this temple and the fire nation."

"Huh, fancy that." Sokka said lightly.

"Don't think about trying anything," Zuko warned, "I mean it, nobody has ever broken out of that place."

"No, I'd never," the tribesman assured him, but despite that worry started clawing deep in Zuko's gut. "Just…wanted to know."

Sokka yawned and stretched his arms, and walked over to the window in a big display of changing the subject. He leaned against the stone sill, gazing out at the jungle beyond. He tried, and did a bad job of, hiding a smile, a secretive smile that was like a tiny peephole into his thoughts.

Zuko, suddenly, felt overwhelmed.

"Are you – was that all you need to say?" He walked next to Sokka, licking his suddenly very dry lips.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. That's all."

"Good. Now it's my turn." That got Sokka's attention, and he turned to face away from the window.

"What are you _mmpf_."

And then they were kissing. It was awkward at first, with Zuko doing all the work and Sokka standing there like a dead fish and Zuko was just beginning to think that it might have been a bad idea when all of a sudden Sokka started kissing back and – oh, this was _better_ than any dream or fantasy Zuko could ever have cooked up and Sokka's hands found themselves tangled in Zuko's hair and everywhere and Zuko had _no idea_ how he'd managed to live his life up to this point without this feeling.

For a few brief, wonderful, seconds, they were in paradise, where there was no war to fight and no nation lines to cross, just him and Sokka and it was _perfect_. Then Sokka seemed to realize what he was doing and abruptly pushed away.

He looked scared.

"No, I can't be doing this," He said, holding Zuko away at arm's length.

All Zuko could think about was the rush of cold air on his lips and how it was a space better occupied by Sokka.

"I have girlfriend," Sokka said, shaking his head rapidly, "Suki."

Zuko cocked his head to one side as if to say, 'yeah, and?'

"I-I _can't_."

He wrested himself from Zuko's grasp, and ran away.

Zuko was too bewildered to follow.

* * *

Night fell, and for once the motley crew of underage adventurers slept soundly, minds unclouded by worries of Azula or creepy three-eyed men. Or maybe, after everything, they were all just dead tired.

Well, most of them were.

Sokka, for his part, was doing an excellent job creeping over his friend's sleeping forms, making less sound than a ninja. His mind, however, was noisier than a Owlpig squealing for its next meal.

_Suki is my girlfriend, and I like her. I really do. I really like her. She's strong, she's pretty, she's _not _a bender, and hey, she likes me back! It's great. Everything is great. Zuko and I can still be friends. He'll understand. Still, it's probably better that I'll be away from everyone for a while. Not that I'm planning to avoid him or anything, because nothing happened worth avoiding over, and anyway---_

"Yo," a voice greeted him after he had climbed to the top of Appa.

Sokka made a "eeeeeeee!" sound and nearly toppled off the bison, but Zuko grabbed him in time so he fell forward instead, crashing into the other boy.

"Shh, you'll wake them," Zuko said.

"Zuko! What are you doing here?" Sokka demanded after untangling himself. He was grateful for the dark, otherwise Zuko would see how red his face was.

"I don't know, why are _you_ here?" Zuko turned it around.

"I'm not doing anything – " The firebender shot him a look that said, 'I'm not stupid, so you might as well fess up.'

"Okay, fine. I'm going to Boiling Rock to rescue my dad. Happy?"

"No. I'm going with you," Zuko said earnestly. Sokka's heart skipped.

"No, you're not. This is something I have to do alone."

Zuko shook his head. His amber eyes looked bright in the moonlight, and Sokka felt jolted, the way one feels after they've missed a step except Sokka was sitting down.

"You're going to need my help. I've been to Boiling Rock a few times with my father, so – "

"No, you can't come. You can't. Because – "

Sokka must have blacked out or something, because the next thing he knew they were kissing again. And this time _he _started it.

When they finally came up for air, Zuko was smiling.

"You have a girlfriend."

"I know, and I'm a dick," Sokka said, resting his forehead against Zuko's, feeling incredibly drained, "and she's going to _kill_ me when she finds out went and I fell in love with a guy."

A beat of silence.

It just slipped out. Kissing was one thing, but what he just said was an entirely different can of worms. But Zuko seemingly paid no notice, and just chuckled as he leaned in comfortably against Sokka's shoulder.

"I hope she doesn't. I've gotten kind of attached to him, too."

Sokka's eyes widened and he felt like laughing, loudly enough to wake everyone around, because here they were, two adolescent boys in the midst of a global war and they were about to just walk into the most high-security prison that ever existed, and after that, they were going to take on the most powerful man in the world and it was just crazy.

And for once, _everything_ made perfect sense.

* * *

**THE END**

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